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RY OF THE RUSSIAN-JAPANESE WAR." 
OTHER BOOK. GET THE BEST.= 



INTRODUCTION 




THIS NEW OFFICIAL WAR MAP ''T,^^ GIVEN FREE 

fef5^ — - 

V -<^ , 1 _fGj 



TO EACH SUBSCRIBER FOR J, MARTIN MILLER'S "OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE RUSSIAN-JAPANESE WAR." INTRODUCTION 
== BY GENERAL NELSON A. MILES. BUY NO OTHER BOOK. GET THE BEST. 




OFFICIAL HISTORY 

OF THE 

Russian-Japanese War 

A Vivid Panorama of 

Land and Naval Battles 

A REALISTIC DESCRIPTION OF TWENTIETH 
CENTURY WARFARE 

THE AWFUL STRUGGLE FOR JAPANESE FREEDOM, THE PEACE AND SAFETY OFTHE ORIENT, 
AND THE PROTECTION OF HELPLESS CHINA FROM THE GREED OF FOREIGN FOES. 

ALSO A 

Complete History of Japariy Russia^ China, Korea and Manchuria 

Including Progress, National Trdts and Customs, Religion, Philosophy, Personal Adventure, etc. 

BY 

J. MARTIN MILLER 

THB CELEBRATED HISTORIAN, WAR CORRESPONDENT AND TRAVELER 

Author of" China- Ancient and Modern;" Twentieth Century Atlas and History of 
the World; Etc., Etc. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

GENERAL NELSON A. MILES 

The greatest military authority in the country, who recently made a tour of the Far East, where his 
position as Commander-in-Chief of the U. S. Army brought him in close totich 
with the leaders of the Russian and Japanese forces 

Graphically Illustrated with Nearly lOO Superb Engravings 

CONSISTING OF LAND AND NAVAL BATTLES, VIEWS OF WAR SHIPS, 
PORTRAITS OF RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE COMMANDERS, PICTURES OF 
FAMOUS CITIES, FORTS, TBMPLBS AND SNAP-SHOTS OF EVERV-DAY LIFE 



,A 



'V\" 



\'' 



THE DOHArcr Of 

CONGR&SS, 
ONt Cof» heoeiveo 

Alls, 22 1904 

GopymoHT ENTRY 

SLASS ft^XXi No 

5 o 

COPY A. 



COPYRIGHT, 1904 

BY 

J. MARTIN MILLER 



^.11 rights reserved 



INTRODUCTION 

BY LIEUTENANT-GENERAL NELSON A. MILES 

{Copyright, igo4, by J. Martin Miller.) 

A book that will give a fair description of the territory soon to 
be occupied by two or more great armies; that shall give, in brief, a 
history of the country, its inhabitants, their industries, their modes of 
life, their beliefs or superstitions, their ideals and their ideas of gov- 
ernment, of the rights of man and the duties and obligations of man 
to hereditary, delegated, or usurped power; the history of the various 
political and military questions that have led up to the impending 
war, as well as a description of the two immediate contending armies, 
their differences in personnel, in discipline, in equipment and experi- 
ence; as well as a forecast of the probable results — must be exceed- 
ingly interesting to the reading public at this time in every part of 
the world. 

Mr. J. Martin Miller has been a war correspondent in the Philip- 
pines and in the allied campaign in China. He made the march to 
Pekin with the Japanese army. 

He was also with the Russian army during a portion of that cam- 
paign. He has been over the ground where the war is now being 
waged, in Korea, Manchuria and Siberia, and now presents a 
description of the country and an account of the war between Russia 
and Japan. 

It is singular that in this enlightened age, progressive in art and 
science if not in political virtue, there should be at this time more 
hundreds of millions of treasure, drawn from the industries of the 
people, expended in preparations for war, in the most expensive and 

3 



4 INTRODUCTION 

most terribly destructive implements and engines of war, and more 
millions of men, civilized, semi-civilized and barbarous tribes organ- 
ized, drilled, disciplined, instructed and equipped for service or sacri- 
fice in the great armies and navies of the world, than at any former 
period. The great bulk of this expenditure of the energy and life, as 
well as the treasure of the nations, is useless, and would be unneces- 
sary if reason and justice and humanity could prevail in the place of 
physical force or high explosives. 

The best men in many countries have been advocates and cham- 
pions of peace. 

A Congress of Nations was the most eloquent theme of one of 
America's most eminent statesmen fifty years ago. Such a high 
tribunal has been urged by the first of every land. Even the present 
autocrat of all the Russias has been the foremost man of his age in 
urging and calling a congress of nations with a view to relieving the 
people in some degree from the heavy burdens of great standing 
armies and formidable navies. 

Yet, notwithstanding all the better influences and better judgment 
of many of the best informed and best hearted people of different 
countries, we find the energies of two great nations being devoted to 
the bringing together of the physical power of both in a war that 
must cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of lives and billions of 
treasure. It cannot but result injuriously to both. 

Japan, on the one hand, the oldest dynasty in the world, has been 
making wonderful strides in useful industries and commercial 
development. Naturally a peaceful, polite people living in a most 
beautiful country, universally fond of art and skillful to a high 
degree — the treasure expended in this war, if it could be devoted to 
the further development of her civil, educational and commercial 
interests, would place her prominent among the nations of the world 
Yet the introduction of modern appliances of war, and her experi 
ence and great success over a powerful neighbor ten times her own 



INTRODUCTION S 

numerical strength, have inspired her people with a confidence and 
martial spirit that will probably be satisfied, whatever may be the 
result of the struggle, only after a devastating war. Her army and 
navy are commanded by skillful and experienced officers; both 
branches of the service are in the main well equipped and under 
most positive, absolute discipline. Her navy in Asiatic waters is 
superior to that of Russia, but would not be if the latter were con- 
centrated. 

The present and future interests of the great Russian Empire 
would seem to be best subserved by a long-continued period of 
peace. Her experience in the last hundred years has demonstrated 
her military prowess, and the loyalty, fortitude and courage of her 
people. She has devoted hundreds of millions of dollars in the 
development of her great civil enterprise, the Siberian Railway, 
which opens a vast area of sparsely populated country, capable of 
developing enormous resources and furnishing millions of homes to 
an industrious, frugal people. She has opened a new avenue of com- 
munication and commerce "around the old world." And yet, at a 
time when peaceful enterprises can best be promoted all must be 
checked or subordinated to the martialing of mighty hosts to settle a 
disputed question upon the red fields of war. 

What seems to be the pending battle ground, Manchuria, is prac- 
tically an open country, undulated by hills and valleys and occupied 
by millions of Chinamen, but a country well adapted for maneuvering 
large armies, though poorly supplied with sustenance, required by 
armies of such magnitude. 

It is not unlikely that within the next twelve months two navies 
better equipped with all the destructive engines of war, battleships, 
cruisers, torpedo boats, torpedo destroyers, submarine vessels, high- 
power, rapid-fire machine guns, will contend for the mastery of the 
waters, while two great armies composed of hundreds of thousands 
of brave men and skillful officers, armed with the most destructive 



6 INTRODUCTION 

rifles, quick-firing artillery, etc., will clash in mortal combat for each 
other's destruction, and for the possession of the territories of Korea 
and Manchuria. 

The daily intelligence of this great tragedy will be flashed around 
the world by the electric telegraph and cables, while the whole civil- 
ized world will witness the changing scenes, either with awe or adula- 
tion. 

Whether there will be any great question of moral or political 
significance settled by the result remains to be seen; or whether any 
result which will compensate for the sacrifice is very problematical. 
Certainly there has recently been no serious problem in which the 
great powers have been actively concerned, or so many of the human 
race affected, as the one now pending. Any book that will enable its 
readers to intelligently understand the condition of the country and 
follow the movements of the different armies and navies as the cam- 
paign develops might well be commended to the reading public. 










THE JAPANESE POINT OF VIEW 

BY KOGORO TAKAHIRA 

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from Japan to the United States. 

[ The author called upon the Mikadoes diplomatic representative at 
Washington the day after the war broke outy when he dictated the fol- 
lozving' for this work as his view of the situation i\ 

My advices from Tokio tell me that the war now going on 
between my country and Russia began with a Russian attack at Che- 
mulpo, Korea, on Monday last, and not with the Japanese attack at 
Port Arthur. 

My government broke off diplomatic relations with Russia on 
February 5th. Even though my government did begin the war by 
attacking the Russian fleet at Port Arthur, there is nothing irregular 
about it; the action would need no explanation or defence. I simply 
mention the fact in the interest of historical accurac}^ 

The likening of our sinking the Russian ships at Port Arthur to 
the Spaniards' blowing up the Maine in Havana Harbor, as I see the 
French papers have done to-day, is amusing. This, probably is the 
first time the French have ever charged the Spaniards with destroy- 
ing the Maine. If I remember, at the beginning of the Spanish- 
American War, the French were indignant at any suggestion made 
in America that their friends, the Spaniards, committed such an act. 

I take it for granted that the present crisis in the far East is a 
matter of grave concern to you and the readers of your book. I hope 
that I may go further and assume that, in some measure at least, the 
opinion you have formed is favorable to the cause which my country 
represents. But whatever your attitude or that of your readers may 
be, whether in perfect agreement with mine or not, it is not to your 

7 



g THE JAPANESE POINT OF VIEW 

sympathy but to your judgment I would appeal. Let me add, also, 
that I do not seek to gain from you a larger measure of good will 
because the interests of our countries in the far East are to some 
extent identical. No one speaking with knowledge in Japan's behalf 
has ever made that plea. 

All who are familiar with the Eastern situation know that a num- 
ber of the powers have interests in common in China — interests of 
the greatest value. Your own government has shown in the most 
marked manner that it was fully cognizant of the importance of 
these interests, and alive to the undesirable results that might follow 
if they were not properly safeguarded. Yet this fact, and others 
equally well known and equally significant, have not prevented the 
attempt to picture Japan as pretending that she was acting from 
altruistic motives, presumptuously arrogating to herself the role of 
champion of a common cause. Nothing could be farther from the 
truth than this cunning device to arouse prejudice and befog the 
actual situation. Japan took the initiative because the impending 
peril, while it threatened others in a measure, was to her a matter of 
far greater moment. 

There is another matter to which I would ask your attention. It 
has been frequently said — so frequently that the statement may have 
gained some credence — that a Chauvinistic and aggressive spirit is 
so predominant among my countrymen as to render an equitable and 
honorable accommodation of the questions at issue practically impos- 
sible. So far as this charge is concerned, I am perfectly willing to 
let the facts speak for themselves. Undoubtedly the past few months 
have been a period of public disquiet and excitement in Japan. 
Equally without doubt, there has been a great deal of irresponsible 
popular clamor. But in all fairness, was this either unnatural or, 
reasonably regarded, a just cause for criticism? Supposing that 
equally vital questions were at issue in this or any other country, and 
supposing, also, that the negotiations dragged unaccountably or 



THE JAPANESE POINT OF VIEW . 9 

seemed to be intentionally delayed for an unfriendly purpose, would 
there not be similar manifestations of discontent and unrest? 

The course of the Japanese government itself under these trying 
circumstances, its manifest determination to neglect no means of 
peaceful settlement and to essay every avenue of honorable accord, 
is sufficient to reply to this accusation. Under the wise guidance of 
His Majesty the Emperor, my august master, the motto of the 
Empire, the sole rule of action, first and last throughout this contro- 
versy, has been peace with honor and safety. In the earnest endeavor 
to secure this desirable end, His Majesty has had the loyal and cor- 
dial support of the enlightened public opinion of the Empire, and I 
feel confident the verdict of history will be that no prompting of self- 
esteem, no yearning for self-glorification was permitted for an instant 
to interfere with the patient effort to secure an equitable and lasting 
agreement upon the questions at issue. 

The position assumed by Japan was the logical result of her 
environment and of the inexorable necessities of national safety. 
Considerations not merely of self-interest or self-respect, but of self- 
protection, have led her to where she now stands. The increase of 
her military and naval strength has been criticised as an indication 
of a desire for national aggrandizement at the cost of others. Even 
if it were not the fact, as it unquestionably is, that her progress along 
more peaceful lines has been as notable as her military and naval 
growth, no more convincing evidence than the present crisis is needed 
to prove that such preparation was the dictate of wise precaution. 

The burden upon the nation's resources is not a light one, but 
think of the infinitely heavier burden Japan would have to bear if, 
instead of her present neighbors, a potential enemy of uncertain pur- 
pose and overwhelming strength was firmly intrenched upon her vast 
threshold. It is this contingency against which we have to guard, 
but in attempting to do so we have never sought to impede in any 
manner the development of the legitimate ambitions of other nations 



10 THE JAPANESE POINT OF VIEW 

or the enjoyment by them of vested rights lawfully acquired. From 
the outset the representations made in Japan's behalf have been con- 
fined within clearly defined limits. They may be summed up in a word 
— respect for the territorial integrity and independence of China and 
Korea; faithful observance of treaty stipulations, and due recognition 
of the validity of the special interest created by existing conditions. 

A few days ago I read an editorial in an American newspaper 
wherein Japan was represented as having interfered without invita- 
tion and without warrant in the affairs of China and Korea. Only 
ignorance of the actual situation could suggest such a criticism. 
Every impartial observer familiar with the facts must acknowledge, 
I feel convinced, that Japan's action was in pursuance of clear duty 
and assured right, and was fully warranted by her conventional rela- 
tions with both China and Korea. 

Her sole desire was to terminate a state of affairs clouded with 
uncertainties which threatened present loss and future danger, and 
to evolve from indefinite assurances and nebulous promises, regard- 
ing matters in which she was vitally interested, an understanding 
clearly defining the rights and the duties of all concerned. It may 
have been over sanguine to attempt such a task, but the attempt 
itself was justified by the law of nations and by an even more impera- 
tive obligation in the duty of self-protection. 

In 1895 Japan gained a foothold in Manchuria by right of con- 
quest. Russia thereupon took the initiative in intervening on the 
ground that Japan's occupation of the Li Liao-Tung Peninsula was a 
menace to the peetce of the East and the integrity of China. After- 
ward, first through undertakings nominally peaceful and subservient 
to Chinese sovereignty, then on pretext based on internal disorders 
in China, but at no time justified by actual conditions, Russia herself 
took armed possession of the whole of Manchuria. She bound her- 
self by treaty to withdraw in 1903, but subsequently made withdrawal 
contingent upon stipulations, an acceptance of which would not have 



THE JAPANESE POINT OF VIEW n 

left a vestige of real sovereignty to China. Did not this give Japan 
as good a right to intervene in 1903 as Russia did in 1895? To the 
ordinary intelligence it would appear that the peace of the East and 
the integrity of China were menaced quite as much in one case as in 
the other. 

But Japan had another and a stronger reason for intervention. 
Russia, once the absolute mistress of Manchuria, held Korea at her 
mercy. When she could, with little effort, sweep away the feeble 
resistance of that kingdom, it did not require extraordinary foresight 
to perceive that she would not permit even an independent Korea to 
remain as a possible embarrassment to her future control of the 
North Asian litoral. Indeed, the immediate past furnishes signifi- 
cant proofs that Russian agents, official and unofficial, pursuing the 
line of policy which some term astute diplomacy, but others know by 
a harsher name, were blazing the pathway to that very goal. Herein 
lay the real menace to Japan, not alone to her commercial and indus- 
trial interests, but to her national repose and security. For this 
reason she has intervened, not from motives of petty jealousy or 
hopes of territorial conquest, nor, least of all, because of rankling 
memories of the Liao-Tung recession. While the present crisis is in 
a sense the offspring of Russia's action in 1895, t^he Japanese people 
are content to deal with existing issues and to leave to impartial his- 
tory the decision of who played the more honest part in that affair. 

The record of all that has occurred will soon be open to every 
one, and I feel assured that you will find in it ample justification for 
what I have said. I am confident also that you will see in it good 
reason to believe that while this issue was not of my country's seek- 
ing, she will face it calmly and firmly, not in a spirit of over-confi- 
dence, as one underestimating a powerful adversary, but with the 
assured conviction that in the words of your great President, she is 
following the right, as God gives her to see the right, and in the end 
justice must prevail. 




TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
THE MIKADO. 
A Man of Advanced Ideas, His Habits and Appearance — Twenty-five Centuries of Un- 
broken Succession — The Oldest Book in the Japanese Language — Records Carefully 
Preserved — The Theatre a Mirror of Actual History — Celebrated Classics of Japan — 
The Creation , 19 

CHAPTER II. 
THE GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 
The Fujiwara — The Rise of the Shoguns — Influence of the Military Classes — Feudal 
Etiquette — Armor and Weapons of War — Suicide, a Principle of Honor — Social Forms 
— The Swords a Divine Symbol — The Samurai 27 

CHAPTER III. 
LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 
Victories of Peace — The Primal Japanese Type — Religious Institutions — Images, Idols 
and Bells — Influence of the Priests — Mediaeval Science, Art and Literature — Provincial 
Barriers — Medicine and Surgery — Court Life — Evolution of the Language 43 

CHAPTER IV. 
INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. 
Embassies from China — The Chinese Armada — Acts of Personal Bravery — Heroism of 
Michiari — The Whole Nation Aroused — The Wrath of Heaven — To the Victor Belongs 
the Spoils — Evil Counsel — The Divinity of Kings — The Temporary Mikadoate 60 

CHAPTER V. 
THE WAR OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 
Divine Origin of the Mikado — Violent Hands Never Laid upon the Emperor's Person — 
Two Mikados — The North Against the South — National Heroes — Kusunoki, the Brave 
— Lust for Land and War — The Succession Settled — Complete List of Mikados 71 

CHAPTER VI. 
RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 
The Climate and Flora of Japan — The Fuji- San — Origin of the Japanese Race — The 
"Feathered Men" — Peculiarities of the Japanese Language — Energetic Japanese Em- 
presses — The Avolition of Christianity — The Ancient Authority of the Mikado Tri- 
umphs 79 

CHAPTER VII. 
JAPANESE HOME LIFE. 
Social Customs — Japanese Houses — Marriage Customs — The Family — The Bath— No 
Mock Modesty — Household Utensils — Very Little Furniture — The Cuisine — Poorly 
Ventilated Bed-Rooms 91 

CHAPTER VIIL 
RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 
Buddhism in Its Early Purity — A Popular Religion — Eternal Life Not to Be Desired- 
Various Sects — Nichiren — Buddhist Protestants — Shintoism, Its Gods and Symbols — 
How the Records Were Preserved — Christianity — Its Introduction and Eradication 
— Early Martyrs — The Jesuits — The Fire Smoldering 99 

13 



14 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 
ANCIENT RUSSIA. 
Her Early Domain — Good and Bad Rulers — When Converted to Christianity — Vladimir, 
a Great Name in Russian History — 'Wholesale Baptism — Translation of Holy Scrip- 
tures — Destruction of Kief — The Hanseatic League — Moscow 114 

CHAPTER X. 

MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

Russian's Historical Development — New Races of Men — The Tartar Invasion — Alexander 

Nevsky — Value of Diplomacy with Force — Mingling of Tartars with Russians — Blood 

Tax — The Mongol Yoke — The Rise and Fall of Lithuania — Shares the Fate of 

Poland 126 

CHAPTER XL 

THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 

The Corner-Stone of the Russian Empire — Early History — The Princes of Moscow — A 

New Dynasty — Wars between the Muscovite and the Tartar — Historic Battle on the 

Donskoi River — Dimitri Donskoi— Tamerlane — The Vassilli — The Birth of Russia — 

Ivan the Great — A Notable Reign 145 

CHAPTER XII. 
THE FIRST CZAR. 
Ivan the Terrible — Early Demoralization — Shuiski Thrown to the Dogs — Influence of 
Ivan's Wife — Awful Atrocities— Proposes Marriage to Queen Elizabeth — Feodor the 
Imbecile — Boris the Evil Genius — The False Dimitri — Vassilli Shuiski 157 

CHAPTER XIIL 
THE ROMANOFFS. 
The House of Rurik Becomes Extinct — Election of a New Czar — Michael Romanoff, 
Founder of Russia, Chosen — His Administration Marked by Great Wisdom — His Son 
Alexis Succeeds Him — Incorporation of Ukraine and Country of the Cossacks — Wars 
with Sweden and Poland — Civil Rebellion — Feodor III Ascends the Throne — Old 
Custom of Choosing a Wife for the Czar Abolished — Ivan and Peter Become Joint 
Sovereigns — Peter the Great, His Remarkable Character — Wars with Sweden and 

Turkey — Founding of St. Petersburg 170 

CHAPTER XIV. 
THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 
Catherine I Ascends the Throne — Her Humble Origin — Menzikoff, Her Prime Minister — 
The Brief Reign of Peter II — Anna of Courland Becomes Czarina — Elizabeth, Daughter 
of Peter the Great, Crowned Empress — Peter III, Elizabeth's Nephew, Made Czar — 
His Consort, Catherine, Called "The Great," Succeeds Him — Her Bloodthirsty and 
Tyrannical Career — Her Immoral Character — The Orloffs — Russian Empire Extended 
— Catherine's Friendship for America — Her Death 182 

CHAPTER XV. 
RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA. 
The Reign of Paul I — Issues Ukase Limiting Succession to Male Line — His Policy One 
of Conciliation — His Ignoble End — Alexander I, His Foreign and Domestic Policy — 
Opposes Napoleon's Despotism— The Battles of Austerlitz and Friedland— French 
Invasion of Russia — The Retreat from Moscow — Capture of Paris — Overthrow of the 
Great Corsican — Death of Alexander 198 

CHAPTER XVI. 
THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 
A Born Soldier— His Marriage— Abdicates the Throne — Nicholas I— His Cathechisms 
—Champions the Greeks— An Insurrection— The Crimean War— The Result of a Hasty 
Policy .- 207 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 15 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNFROZEN SEA. 

The Serfs Liberated — Internal Disturbances — Russia Advances into Asia Minor — The 
First Pacific Port — Relations between Russia and the United States — War with Tur- 
key — The Emperor Assassinated — The Reign of Alexander III — His Son Ascends 
the Throne 222 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

NICHOLAS IL 

A Puny Boy — Falls in Love with a Ballet Dancer — Travels Abroad — 'Attempted Assas- 
sination — The Meaning of Loyalty — The Mikado Orders the Would-be Murderer to 
Be Executed — Marriage — Coronation — A Disciple of Peace — Finland — Character of 
Nicholas II 230 

CHAPTER XIX. 

KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 

The Bone of Contention — History of the Country — Seoul, the Capital — Chemulpo — Fusan, 
the Gateway to Korea — Classes of People — Slavery — Korean Literature — Industries — 
Commercial Importance 243 

CHAPTER XX. 

SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 

Relation of Siberia to Russia — How Separated from Manchuria — Inhabitants — How the 
Country Was Settled — Siberian Prisoners — Manchuria at the Beginning of the War — 
Harbin, the Moscow of Asia — A Commercial Power — Natural History of Eastern Asia. 259 

CHAPTER XXL 

THE END OF DIPLOMACY. 

The First Shot — Port Arthur the Scene — The Russian View — Statement of Japanese 
Minister at Washington — Hostilities at Chemulpo — Russia's Reply in the Hands of 
Alexieff — Preparation for War — The Unanimity of the Japanese Nation — The Diverse 
Elements of Russia— Russia's Presentation of the Diplomatic Negotiations — The Czar's 
Supreme Manifesto — Secretary Hay's Note 271 

CHAPTER XXII. 
RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 
Japanese Armies — Uniform and Accoutrements of the Russian Troops — Transportation 
Methods — What the Japanese Soldier Wears — His Knapsack — His Pay — Discipline of 
the Japanese Army — The Drill — Russians and Japanese Equal in Courage and Disci- 
pline — Number of Troops in Field 279 

CHAPTER XXIIL 

AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 
American Nurses Offer Their Services to Japan — The First Expedition — What the 0.f¥er 
Meant to Japan — The Japanese Red Cross Society — United States Officers Study the 
War — Uniforms Required — Absence of Swords — Military Etiquette 291 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 
Anarchy in China Feared — Secretary Hay's Note — Severance of Diplomatic Relations 
between Japan and Russia — The Daring Torpedo Attack on Port Arthur — Japanese 
Success Establishes Chinese Influence — Naval Conflict at Chemulpo — First Prizes of 
the War — Arrival of Japanese Troops at Seoul — Repulse of Japanese Landing Party 
— Destruction of the Boyarin 302 



i6 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XXV. 
THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 
The Fourth Assault — Wireless Telegraphy Used by Japanese — Thrilling Torpedo Duel — 
Bottling up the Russian Fleet — The Japanese Send in Fire Ships — The Fifth Attack 
— Hirose, the Hero — Description of the Beleaguered City — Vivid Account of the Bom- 
bardment by a Russian Officer 315 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
DESTRUCTION OF THE PETRO PAVLOV SK. 
The Assassin of the Sea — A Five Million Dollar Boat and Eight Hundred Men Lost — 
Miraculous Escape of Grand Duke Cyril — Description of the Petropavlovsk — Admiral 
Makaroff — How a Submarine Fights — Enticed into a Trap — An Eye Witness Describes 
the Disaster — Russian Torpedo Boats Sink a Japanese Transport — Loss of the Yoshino 
and Hatsuse 325 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

FIRST LAND BATTLES. 

The Battle of Chong-ju — The Drama of the Yalu — The First Move — Japanese Gunnery 
— The Russians Evacuate Tiger Hill — Masterly Strategy — Russian Guns Silenced — A 
Frontal Attack — Planting the Japanese Flag on the Ridge — A Desperate Bayonet 
Charge — The Moral Effect of the Victory 342 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 
THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 
Nanshan Hill — The Russian Army Strongly Fortified — Caliber of Russian Guns Ascer- 
tained — Battlefield Lighted by Electricity — A Gap in the Defence — Capture of Kinchou 
— Storming the Heights — A Famous Victory — Japanese Valor — Evacuation of Dalny 
— Story by an Eye Witness — Loss on Both Sides 352 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN. 
The Commander-in-Chief Arrives — His Journey from St. Petersburg — Japanese Move- 
ment Hidden — The Affair at Vagenfuchu — A Cossack Charge — Alexieff and Kouro- 
patkin Fail to Agree — Mikado's Soldiers Worthy of Praise — Chinese Bandits . . r ^62 

CHAPTER XXX. 
CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 
An Outpost Battle — Capture of Saimatze — Advance of the Japanese Army — The Fighting 
Around Siuyen — The Battle of Vafangow — Thrilling Description by Eye Witness — 
Mountain Passes Captured 372 

CHAPTER XXXL 
RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 
Objective Point of the Japanese Army — The Capture of Kaichou — Haicheng the Goal — 
A Sanguinary Conflict— Motien Pass — Official Reports of the Engagement — A Russian 
Rout — A Decisive Victory — Yangze Pass — Death of General Keller 390 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 

Admiral Skrydloff's Raid— The Vladivostok Squadron Escapes— Togo Encounters the 

Russian Fleet — Sinking a Russian Guardship — Bombardment of the West Coast of the 

Liaotung Peninsula— Tightening the Grip— The Doomed Fortress— Every Position 

Occupied— The Beginning of the End 413 







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THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN REVIEWING HIS ARMY 

Mutsuhito, Emperor of Japan, was born Nov. 3, 1852, and succeeded to the throne 
Feb. 13, 1867. In less than forty years he has brought his country from semi-barbarism to the 
status of a first-class power in the politics of the world. 




AN INCIDENT OF THE WAR 

A thousand stories could be told of the bravery of the Japanese troops. The above 
illustration depicts the capture of one of the enemy's strongholds during the early days of 
the war. Twice the Japanese were beaten back, but they again rallied and after nearly au 
hour of hand-to-hand fighting, swarmed in and took the fort. 




VARIOUS TYPES OF SOLDIERS OF THE JAPANESE ARMY 

Which comprises 11,611 officers and 457,480 men. Left to right: Cavalry Officer, 
Infantry Officer, Bugler, Infantry Private, Cavalry. 




TYPES OF SOLDIERS OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY 

Whose war strength is 75,000 officers and 4,500,000 men. Left to right, on foot: 
Grenadier Guard, Infantry, Circassian Cossack, Hussar, Lancer, Infantry Drummer. 



Horse 




GENERAL KODAMA 

Commander Japanese land forces. 

ADMIRAL SATTO 

Commander Japanese Navy. 



ADMIRAL ALEXIEFF 

Russian Viceroy in Manchuria. 
GENERAL SAHAROFF 

Commander Russian Army. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Portrait of J. Martin Miller. 

Portrait of Nelson A. Miles. 

Japanese Military Engineers. 

A Korean Pony. 

Japanese Soldiers Off Duty. 

Russian Infantry. 

"The Man Behind the Gun." 

Russian Cossacks. 

A Russian Soup Wagon. 

A Russian Military Cart, 

The Russian Soldier. 

The Emperor of Japan Reviewing 
His Army. 

An Incident of the War. 

Various Types of Soldiers of the 
Japanese Army. 

Types of Soldiers of the Russian 
Army. 

General Kodama. 

Admiral Saito. 

Admiral Alexieff. 

General Sakharoff. 

Mr. Kogoro Takahira. 

Mr. Minhui Cho. 

Count Cassini. 

Siti Chen Tung Liang-Cheng. 

Explosion of a Mine at Port Ar- 
thur. 



The Naval Battle at Chemulpo. 
Exciting Scene on the Deck of a 

Battleship. 
Fearless Japanese Sailors Firing a 

Rifle Cannon. 
The Submarine Torpedo Boat, 
A Successful Torpedo Attack by 

Submarine Boat. 
The Japanese Army on the March. 
Destruction of a Railroad Bridge. 
A Group of Japanese Babies. 
Arrival of Our War Correspondent 

AT Seoul. 
The Critical Area Concerned in 

the Russo-Japanese War. 
Nicholas II, Czar of Russia. 
The Czar Reviewing his Troops. 
The Czar on a Tour of Inspection, 
"The Little Father of the Russian 

Fleet." 
Largest Type of Vessel in Russian 

Navy. 
Embarkation of Russian Troops. 
Conscription in Russia, 
The First Land Battle. 
A Hospital Train. 
Type of Peasant Woman, Central 

Russia. 



17 



i8 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



Blind Beggar — Type of Northern 

Russia. 
Traveling School Teachers. 
Peasant Woman of Moscow. 
"The Man who is Waking Up." 
Monument at Kiev. 
Peasant Types of Central Russia. 
Scene in Manchuria Before the 

War 
A Japanese Battleship. 
Customs of Japanese Life. 
Floating Blacksmith Shop. 
Hospital Supplies. 
An Artillery Camp. 
Waiting for Orders. 
In the Russian Trenches, 
The Cossack Lance. 
Death to the Spy. 
Russian Prisoners. 



The Japanese Position on the Yalu. 

A River of Blood. 

A Wounded Russian Soldier. 

Japanese Transportation Methods. 

Japanese Infantry on the March. 

The Largest Check Ever Drawn. 

Countess Cassini. 

Madame Takahira. 

Brig. Gen. Henry T. Allen. 

Col. John B. Kerr. 

Lieut. Col, Oliver E. Wood. 

Capt. Carl Reich man. 

Capt, Andre W, Brewster. 

Capt. Seaton Schroeder, 

Capt. J. E. Kuhn 

Capt, Wm, V. Judson 

Major W. D, Beach. 

Red Cross Headquarters at Osaka. 



CHAPTER I. 
THE MIKADO 

A Man of Advanced Ideas, His Habits and Appearance — Twenty-five Centuries of Un- 
broken Succession — The Oldest Book in the Japanese Language — Records Carefully^ 
Preserved — The Theatre a Mirror of Actual History — Celebrated Classics of Japan 
— The Creation. 

COMPARATIVELY few foreigners have seen the Mikado of Japan 
closely. In spite of its wonderful advance in Occidental ideas in 
recent years, Japan retains enough of its orientalism to insist upon a 
certain seclusion for its ruler. Mutsuhito breaks away from his purely 
oriental environment occasionally. He goes among his people incognito. 
While strolling through the streets of Tokyo as a young man attired 
as a Japanese sailor, Mutsuhito encountered the first American he had 
ever seen. 

Walking boldly up to this son of Uncle Sam, the boy emperor intro- 
duced himself as a young sailor, and, finding the American could speak 
a little Japanese, he poured forth a flood of eager questions. The trav- 
eler from the United States told the supposed sailor a wonderful tale 
of the results of American civilization. The imperial ambition received 
new stimulus, and that interview with an American accomplished much 
for Japan. 

A Dynasty Over Two Thousand Years Old. 

Mutsuhito, Mikado of Japan, is the present representative of the old- 
est royal dynasty extant. He was fifteen years old when he ascended 
the throne in 1867. He is the one hundred and twenty-sixth emperor of 
his dynasty, which dates back in an unbroken line over 2,500 years. 
(See list of Mikados at end of Chapter V.) He is the direct descendant 
of Jimmu, the "Divine Conqueror," who, according to Japanese myth- 
ology> "descended from heaven on the bird of the clouds." 

19 



20 THE MIKADO, 

Jimmu's first task in his mythological role of divine conqueror was 
the subjugation of the Ainos, a savage, warlike race, whose descendants 
are still found in the northern extremity of Japan. Having subdued 
these fierce Ainos, Jimmu proclaimed himself to be "Tenno," the "Son 
of Heaven," and established the still existing dynasty in 660 B, C. It 
is no exaggeration, therefore., to say that through the veins of Mutsuhito 
Tenno flows the very bluest of the blue blood. 

The Mikado's Personality. 

Personally, the emperor has a pleasant appearance. He is very tall 
for a Japanese, almost six feet. He is muscular and well-proportioned. 
He has a broad, high forehead, and, judged by the most exacting stand- 
ard of manly beauty, he is a handsome sovereign. The Mikado takes 
more interest in the government than any of his predecessors. He reads 
the papers and attends cabinet councils. He takes all the important 
English and American magazines. He has astonished the upper classes 
of Japanese by knowing something of the government of his people. 
- The Mikado lives in a palace built in the American way, with steel 
framework made in Pittsburg, Pa. This was done to avoid accidents 
by earthquakes, so common in Japan. Haruko, Empress of Japan, was 
a daughter of a Japanese noble. She is two years older than her hus- 
band; her name, Haruko, means "spring time." 

Emperor By Divine Right. 

In the Mikado's reign the bands of feudalism that bound Japan to 
the middle ages were broken ; a constitution was granted by him volun- 
tarily; the old social order of caste limitations gave way to a more lib- 
eral order of equality; modern education, literature, arts, science and 
industry were welcomed; the army an.d the navy were changed from 
the bow and arrow stage to modern organizations. It was only the 
remarkable advancement in the reign of Mutsuhito that made it possible 
for oriental Japan to be equal to the task of a possibly successful war 
Avith Russia. 

A dynasty of rulers who ostentatiously boast of twenty-five centuries 



THE MIKADO. 21 

of unbroken succession should have soHd foundation of fact for their 
boast. The august representatives of the Mikado Mutsuhito, the one 
hundred and twenty-sixth of the imperial line of Dai Nippon, who, in 
the presence of the President and Congress of the United States, and 
of the sovereigns of Europe, claimed the immemorial antiquity of the 
Japanese imperial rule, should have credentials to satisfy the foreigner 
and silence the skeptic. 

In this enlightened age, when all authority is challenged, and a cen- 
tury after the moss of oblivion has covered the historic grave of the 
doctrine of divine right, the Japanese still cling to the divinity of the 
Mikado, not only making it the dogma of religion and the engine of 
government, but accrediting their envoys as representatives of, and ask- 
ing of foreign diplomatists that they address His Imperial Japanese 
Majesty as the "Son of Heaven." A nation that has passed through 
the successive stages of aboriginal migration, tribal government, con- 
quest by invaders, pure monarchy, feudalism, anarchy, and modern con- 
solidated empire, should have secreted the material for much Interest- 
ing history. 

Historical Lore of Japan. 

In the many lulls of peace, scholars would arise, and opportunities 
would offer, to record the history which previous generations had made. 
The foreign historian who will bring the necessary qualifications to the 
task of composing a complete history of Japan, I. e., knowledge of the 
languages and literature of Japan, China, Korea, and the dialects of the 
Malay Archipelago, Siberia, and the other islands of the North Pacific, 
historical insight, sympathy, and judicial acumen, has before him a vir- 
gin field. 

The body of native Japanese historical writings Is rich and solid. It 
is the largest and most important division of their voluminous literature. 
It treats very fully the period between the rise of the noble families 
from about the ninth century until the present time. The real history 
of the period prior to the eighth century of the Christian era is very 
meagre. It is nearly certain that the Japanese possessed no writing 
until the sixth century A. D. 



22 THE MIKADO. 

The Earliest Known Writings. 

Their oldest extant composition is the Kojiki, or "Book of Ancient 
Traditions." It may be called the Bible of the Japanese. It comprises 
three volumes, composed A. D. 711-712. It is said to have been pre- 
ceded by two similar works, written respectively in A. D. 620 and A. D. 
681 ; but neither of these has been preserved. The first volume treats 
of the creation of the heavens and earth ; the gods and goddesses, called 
"kami ;" and the events of the holy ages, or mythological period. 

The second and third give the history of the mikados from the year 
I (660 B. C.) to the 1288th of the Japanese era. It was first printed 
during A. D, 1624-1642. The Nihonki, completed A. D. 720, also con- 
tains the Japanese cosmogony, records of the mythological period, and 
brings down the annals of the mikado to A. D. 699. These are the 
oldest books in the language. Numerous and very valuable commen- 
taries upon them have been written. They contain so much that is fabu- 
lous, mythical or exaggerated, that their statements, especially in respect 
of dates, cannot be accepted as true history. 

According to the Kojiki, Jimmu Tenno was the first emperor; yet it 
is extremely doubtful whether he was a historical personage. The best 
foreign scholars and critics regard him as a mythical character. The 
accounts of the first mikados are very meagre. The accession to the 
throne, marriage and death of the sovereign, with notices of occasional 
rebellions put down, tours made, and worship celebrated, are recorded, 
and interesting glimpses of the progress of civilization obtained. 

Living Pictures of Ancient History. 

A number of works, containing what is evidently good history, illus- 
trate the period between the eighth and eleventh centuries. A still 
richer collection of both original works and modern compilations treat 
of the mediaeval period from the eleventh to the sixteenth century — 
the age of intestine strife and civil war. The light which the stately 
prose of history casts upon the past is further heightened by the many 
poems, popular romances, founded on historical fact, and th^ classiQ 



THE MIKADO. 23 

compositions called monogatari, all of which help to make the per- 
spective of by-gone centuries melt out into living pictures. 

That portion of the history which treats of the introduction, prog- 
ress, and expulsion of Christianity in Japan has most interest to our- 
selves. Concerning it there is much deficiency of material, and that not 
of a kind to satisfy occidental tastes. The profound peace which fol- 
lowed the victories of lyeyasu, and which lasted from 1600-1868 — the 
scholastic era of Japan — gave the peaceful leisure necessary for the 
study of ancient history, and the creation of a large library of historical 
literature, of which the magnificent works called the Dai Nihon Shi 
(''History of Great Japan"), and Nihon Guai Shi ("Japanese Outer, or 
Military History"), are the best examples. 

Censorship of the Tokugawa Shoguns. 

Under the Tokugawa shoguns (1603-1868) liberty to explore, chron- 
icle, and analyze the past in history was given; but the seal of silence, 
the ban of censorship, and the mandate forbidding all publication were 
put upon the production of contemporary history. Hence, the peace- 
ful period, 1600 to 1853, is less known than others in earlier times. Sev- 
eral good native annalists have treated of the post-Perry period (1853- 
1872), and the events leading to the Restoration. 

In the department of unwritten history, such as unearthed relics, 
coins, weapons, museums, memorial stones, tablets, temple records, etc., 
there is much valuable material. Scarcely a year passes but some rich 
trover is announced to delight the numerous native archaeologists. 

Records Kept by Local Antiquarians. 

The Japanese are intensely proud of their history, and take great 
care in making and preserving records. Memorial-stones, keeping green 
the memory of some noted scholar, ruler, or benefactor, are am'ong 
the most striking sights on the highways, or in the towns, villages, or 
temple-yards, betokening the desire to defy the ravages of oblivion and 
resist the inevitable tooth of Time. 

Almost every large city has its published history; towns and villages 
hav^ their arinal§ written and preserved by local antiquarians ; family 



24 THE MIKADO. 

records are faithfully copied from generation to generation; diaries, 
notes of journeys or events, dates of the erection of buildings, the names 
of the officiating priests, and many of the subscribing worshipers, are 
religiously kept in most of the large Buddhist temples and monasteries. 

The priests delight to write of the lives of their saintly predecessors 
and the mundane affairs of their patrons. Almost every province has 
its encyclopedic history, and every high-road its itineraries and guide- 
books, in which famous places and events are noted. Almost every 
neighborhood boasts its "Old Mortality," or local antiquary, whose de- 
light and occupation are to know the past. In the large cities profes- 
sional story-tellers and readers gain a lucrative livelihood by narrating 
both the classic history and the legendary lore. 

The theater, which in Japan draws its subjects for representation 
almost exclusively from the actual life, past or present, of the Japanese 
people, is often the most faithful mirror of actual history. Few people 
seem to be more thoroughly informed as to their own history; parents 
delight to instruct their children in their national lore; and there are 
hundreds of child's histories of Japan. 

Beautiful but Unreliable Literature. 

Besides the sober volumes of history, the number of books purport- 
ing to contain the truth, but which are worthless for purposes of his- 
torical investigation, is legion. In addition to the motives, equally 
operative in other countries for the corruption or distortion of historical 
narrative, was the perpetual desire of the Buddhist monks, who were 
in many cases the writers, to glorify their patrons and helpers, and to 
damn their enemies. Hence their works are of little value. So plenti- 
ful are these garbled productions, that the buyer of books always asked 
for "jitsu-roku," or "true records," in order to avoid the "zu-zan," or 
"editions of Zu," so called from Zu, a noted Chinese forger of history. 

Models of Elegant Diction. 

The vividness and pictorial detail of the classic historians fascinate 
the reader who can analyze the closely massed syntax. Many of the 



THE MIKADO. 25 

pages of the Nihon Guai Shi, especially, are models of compression and 
elegance, and glow with the chastened eloquence that springs from 
clear discernment and conviction of truth, gained after patient sifting 
of facts, and groping through difficulties that lead to discovery. Many 
of its sentences are epigrams. To the student of Japanese it is a narra- 
tive of intensest interest. 

The Japanese Book of Genesis. 

According to 'Japanese mythology, at the beginning all things were 
in chaos. Heaven and earth were not separated. The world floated in 
the cosmic mass, like a fish in water, or the yolk in an egg. The ethereal 
matter sublimed and formed the heavens, the residuum became the 
present earth, from the warm mould of which a germ sprouted and be- 
came a self-animate being, called "Kuni-toko-tachi no mikoto." Two 
other beings of like genesis appeared. After them came four pairs of 
beings ("kami".) These were all single ("hitori-gami," male, sexless, 
or self-begotten). 

The First Man and Woman. 

Proceeding now to the work of creation, the kami separated the pri- 
mordial substance into the five elements — wood, fire, metal, earth, and 
water — and ordained to each its properties and combination. As yet, 
the division into sexes had not taken place. In (Chinese) philosophical 
language, the male ("yo") ^"^ female ("in") principles that pervade all 
things had not yet appeared. 

The first manifestation of the male essence was "Izanagi"; of the 
female, "Izanami." Standing together on the floating bridge of heaven, 
the male plunged his jeweled falchion, or spear, into the unstable waters 
beneath them, and withdrawing it the trickling drops formed an Island, 
upon which they descended. The creative pair, or divine man and 
woman, designing to make this island a pillar for a continent, separated 
— the male to the left, the female to the right — to make a journey round 
the island. 

At their meeting, the female spirit spoke first, "How joyful to meet 



26 THE MIKADO. 

a lovely man !" The male spirit, offended that the first use of the tongue 
had been by a woman, required the circuit to be repeated. On their 
second meeting, the man cried out, "How joyful to meet a lovely 
woman !" They were the first couple ; and this was the beginning of 
the art of love, and of the human race. The island ("Awaji"), with 
seven other large, and many thousand small ones, became the Everlast- 
ing Great Japan. 

The First Child Becomes a Goddess. 

At Izanami's first conception, the female essence "in" being more 
powerful, a female child was born, greatly to the chagrin of the father, 
who wished for male offspring. The child was named "Ama-terasu o 
mikami," or, the "Heaven-illuminating Goddess." She shone beauti- 
fully, and lighted the heavens and the earth. Her father, therefore, 
transferred her from earth to heaven, and gave her the ethereal realm 
to rule over. At this time the earth was close to heaven, and the god- 
dess easily mounted the pillar, on which heaven rested, to her kingdom. 



CHAPTER II. 
THE GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM 

The Fujiwara — The Rise of the Shoguns — Influence of the Military Classes — Feudal Eti- 
quette — Aymor and Weapons of War — Suicide, a Principle of Honor — Social Forms — 
The Sword a Divine Symbol — The Samurai. 

JAPAN, of all the Asiatic nations, seems to have brought the feudal 
system to the highest state of perfection. Originating and de- 
veloping at the same time as in Europe, it became the constitution of 
the nation and the condition of society in the seventeenth century. 
When in Europe the nations were engaged in throwing off the feudal 
yoke and inaugurating modern government, Japan was riveting the fet- 
ters of feudalism, which stood intact until 1871. From the beginning 
of the thirteenth century, it had come to pass that there were virtually 
two rulers in Japan, and as foreigners supposed, two emperors. 

Noble Families Who Furnished the Sho-Guns. 

The growth of feudalism in Japan took shape and form from the 
early division of the officials into civil and military. The Fujiwara, to 
whom the Emperor Kuwammu (A. D. 782) owed his elevation to the 
throne, controlled all the civil offices, and at first, in time of emergency, 
put on armor, led their troops to battle, and braved the dangers of war 
and the discomforts of the camp. In time, however, this great family, 
yielding to that sloth and luxury which ever seem, like an insidious dis- 
ease, to ruin greatness in Japan, ceased to take the field themselves, 
and delegated the uncongenial tasks of war to certain members of par- 
ticular noble families. 

Those from which the greatest number of shoguns, or commanding 
generals, were appointed were the Taira and Minomoto, that for sev- 
eral centuries held the chief military appointments, As luxury, corrup- 

27 



2^ GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 

tion, intrigue, and effeminacy increased at the capital, the difficulty of 
keeping the remote parts of the empire in order increased, especially in 
the North and East. The war department became disorganized, and 
the generals at Kioto lost their ability to enforce their orders. 

Acquire Knowledge of Intrigue and Politics. 

Many of the peasants, on becoming soldiers, had, on account of their 
personal valor or merit, been promoted to the permanent garrison of 
household troops. Once in the gay capital, they learned the details of 
intrigue and politics. Some were made court pages, or attendants on 
men of high rank, and thus learned the routine of official duty. They 
caught the tone of life at court, where every man was striving for rank 
and his own glory, and they were not slow to imitate their august ex- 
amples. 

Returning to their homes with the prestige of having been in the 
capital, they intrigued for power in their native districts, and gradually 
obtained rule over them, neglecting to go when duty called them to 
Kioto, and ignoring the orders of their superiors in the war department. 
The civil engineers of the provinces dared not molest, or attempt to 
bring these petty tyrants to obedience. Having armor, horses, and 
weapons, they were able to train and equip their dependents and ser- 
vants, and thus provide themselves with an armed following. 

Professional Fighters. 

Thus was formed a class of men who called themselves "warriors," 
and were ever ready to serve a great leader for pay. The natural 
consequence of such a state of society was the frequent occurrence of 
village squabbles, border brawls, and the levying of blackmail upon 
defenseless people, culminating in the insurrection of a whole province. 

The disorder often rose to such a pitch that it was necessary for 
the court to interfere, and an expedition was sent from Kioto, under 
the command of a Taira or Minamoto leader. The shogun, instead 
of waiting to recruit his army in the regular manner — a process doubt- 
ful of results in the disorganized state of the war department and of the 



GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 29 

country in general, had immediate recourse to others of these veteran 
warriors, who were already equipped, and eager for a fray. 

The Distribution of Military Patronage. 

Frequent repetition of the experience of the relation of brothers in 
arms, of commander and commanded, of rewarder and rewarded, grad- 
ually grew inT;o that of lord and retainers. Each general had his special 
favorites and followers, and the professional soldier looked upon his 
commander as the one to whom his allegiance was directly due. The 
distant court at Kioto, being utterly unable to enforce its authority, 
put the whole power of quieting the disturbed districts, whenever the 
disorder increased beyond the ability of the civil magistrate to repress 
it, into the hands of the Minamoto and Taira. These families thus be- 
came military clans and acquired enormous influence, enjoyed the 
monopoly of military patronage, and finally became the virtual rulers 

of the land. 

The Power of the Sword. 

The power of the sword was, as early as the twelfth century, lost to 
the court, which then attempted, by every means in its power, to check 
the rising influence of the military families and classes. They began by 
denying them high rank, thus putting them under social ban. They 
next attempted to lay an interdict upon the warriors by forbidding 
them to ally themselves with either the Taira or the Minamoto. 

This availed nothing, for the warriors knew who rewarded them. 
They then endeavored, with poor success, to use one family as a check 
upon the other. Finally when the Minamoto, Yoriyoshi, and Yoshiiye 
conquered all the north of Hondo, and kept in tranquillity the whole of 
the Kuanto for fifteen years, even paying governmental expenses from 
their private funds, the court ignored their achievements. 

When they petitioned for rewards to be bestowed on their soldiers, 
the dilatory and reluctant, perhaps jealous, nobles composing the court 
not only neglected to do so, but left them without the imperial com- 
mission, and dishonored their achievements by speaking of them as 
"private feuds." Hence they took the responsibility, and conferred 



30 GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 

upon their soldiers grants of the conquered land in their own name. 
The Taira followed the same policy in the south and west. 

The Court Loses Control of the Provinces. 

When Yoritomo became Sei-i Tai Shogun at Kamakura, erected 
the dual system, and appointed a military with a civil governor of each 
province in the interest of good order, feudalism assumed national pro- 
portions. Such a distribution soon ceased to be a balance, the military 
pan in the scale gained weight and the civil lost until it kicked the 
beam. At the end of the Hojo domination, the court had lost the gov- 
ernment of the provinces, and the "kuge" (court nobles) had been de- 
spoiled and impoverished by the "buke" (military). So thoroughly had 
feudalism become the national policy that in the temporary mikadoate, 
1 534-1 536, the Emperor Go-Daigo rewarded those who had restored 
him by grants of land for them to rule in their own names as his vassals. 

The Law of Might. 

Under the Ashikagas (fourteenth century) the hold of even the cen- 
tral military authority was lost, and the empire split up into fragments. 
Historians have in vain attempted to construct a series of historical 
maps of this period. The pastime was war — a game of patchwork in 
which land continually changed possessors. There was no one great 
leader of sufficient power to overawe all; hence might made right; and 
whoever had the ability, valor, or daring to make himself pre-eminent 
above his fellows, and seized more land, his power would last until he 
was overcome by a stronger, or his family decayed through the effem- 
inacy of his descendants. During this period, the great clans with whose 
names the readers of the works of the Jesuits and Dutch writers are 
familiar, or which have been most prominent since the opening of the 
empire, took their rise. They were those of Hosokawa Uyesugi, Satake, 
Takeda, the "later Hojo of Odawara;" Mori, Otomo, Shimadzu, Riuzoji, 
Ota, and Tokugawa, 

Lords and Vassals. 

As the authority of the court grew weaker and weaker, the allegiance 



GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 31 

which all men owed the mikado, and which they theoretically 
acknowledged, was changed into loyalty to the military chief. Every 
man who bore arms was thus attached to some "daimio" (great name) 
or territorial noble, and became a vassal ("kerai"). The agricultural, 
and gradually the other classes, also put themselves, or were forcibly 
included, under the protection of some castle lord or nobleman having 
an armed following. 

The taxes, instead of being collected for the central government, 
flowed into the treasury of the local rulers. This left the mikado and 
court without revenue. The ''kuge," or Kioto nobles, were thus stripped 
of wealth, until their poverty became the theme for the caricaturist. 
Nevertheless, the eye of their pride never dimmed. In their veins, they 
knew, ran the blood of the gods, w^hile the daimios were only "earth- 
thieves," and the parvenus of feudalism. They all cherished their empty 
titles; and to all students of history their poverty was more honorable 
than all the glitter of the shogun's train, or the splendors of the richest 
daimio's mansion. 

The daimios spent their revenues on their retainers, their personal 
pleasures, and in building castles. In almost every feudal city, or place 
of strategic importance, the towers, walls, and moats of these character- 
istic specimens of Japanese architecture could be seen. The strictest 
vigilance was maintained at the castle-gates, and a retainer of another 
daimio, however hospitably entertained elsewhere, was never allowed 
entrance into the citadel. A minute code of honor, a rude sort of chi- 
valry, and an exalted sense of royalty were the growth of the feudal sys- 
tem. 

The Custom of Shaving the Head. 

Many of the mediaeval military customs were very interesting. Dur- 
ing this period the habit originated of the men shaving the hair off their 
temples and from the middle of the scalp, and binding the long cue into 
a top-knot, which was thus turned forward and laid on the scalp. The 
object of this was to keep the hair out of the eyes during battle, and 
also to mark the wearer as a warrior. Gradually it became a universal 
custom, extending to all classes. 



32 GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 

When, in 1873, the reformers persuaded the people to cut off their 
knots and let their hair grow, the latter refused to "imitate the foreign- 
ers," and supposed they were true conservatives, when, in reality, the 
ancient Japanese knew nothing of shaven faces and scalps, or of top- 
knots. The ancient warriors wore mustaches, and even beards. The 
practice of keeping the face scrupulously bare, until recently so univer-. 
sally observed except by botanists and doctors, is comparatively modern. 

Military Tactics Copied from the Chinese. > 

The military tactics and strategic arts of the Japanese were anciently 
copied from the Chinese, but were afterward modified as the nature of 
the physical features of their country and the institutions of feudalism 
required. No less than seven distinct systems were at different times 
in vogue; but that perfected by Takeda and Uyesugi, in the Ashikaga 
period, finally bore off the palm. These tactics continued to command 
the esteem and practice of the Japanese until the revolution wrought 
by the adoption of the European systems in the present century. The 
surface of the country being so largely mountainous, uneven, and cov- 
ered with rice-swamps, cavalry were but^ little employed. A volley of 
arrows usually opened the battle, followed by a general engagement 
along the whole line. 

Foot to Foot and Knee to Knee. 

Single combats between commanders of hostile armies were of fre- 
quent occurrence. When they met on the field, their retainers, accord- 
ing to the strict etiquette of war, gave no aid to either, but encouraged 
them by shouts, as they called out each other's names and rushed to 
the combat. The battle slackened, while the leaders strove, the armies 
becoming spectators. 

The victor cut off the head of his antagonist, and, holding it up, 
shouted his name and claimed the victory. The triumph or defeat of 
their leaders often decided the fate of the army. Vengeance against 
the victor was not permitted to be taken at the time, but must be sought 



GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 33 

again, the two armies again joining battle. The fighting over, those who 
had slain distinguished personages, must exhibit their heads before 
their chiefs, who bestowed rewards upon them. 

This practice still continu'es; and during the expedition in Formosa 
in 1874, the chief trophies were the heads of the Boutan cannibals, 
though the commander, General Saigo, attempted to abolish the custom. 
Whoever saved his chieftain's life on the field was honored with the 
place of highest rank in the clan. These customs had a tremendous in- 
fluence in cultivating valor and a spirit of loyalty in the retainer toward 
the prince. The meanest soldier, if brave and faithful, might rise to 
the highest place of honor, rank, emolument, and influence. The be- 
stowal of a reward, the investiture of a command, in military promotion, 
was ever an occasion of impressive ceremony. 

The Samurai in Times of Peace. 

Even in time of peace the "samurai," or military nobles, never ap- 
peared out of doors unarmed, invariably wearing their two swords in 
their girdle. The offensive weapons — spears long and short, the bows, 
arrows, and quiver, and battle-axes — were set on their butts on the porch 
or vestibule in front of the house. Within doors, in the "tokonoma," or 
recess, were ranged in glittering state the cuirass, helmet, greaves, 
gauntlets, and chain-mail. Over the sliding partitions, on racks, were 
the long halberds, which the women of the house were trained to use 
in case of attack during the absence of the men. 

The gate of the house was permanently guarded by armed retainers, 
who occupied the porter's lodge beside it. Standing upright and ready 
were three long instruments, designed to entangle, throw down, and 
pin to the earth a quarrelsome applicant. Familiar faces passed un- 
challenged, but armed strangers were held at bay till their business 
was known. A grappling-iron, with barbed tongues turned in every 
direction, making a ball of hooks like an iron hedgehog, mounted on a 
pike-staff ten feet long, thrust into the Japanese loose clothing, sufficed 
to keep at a wholesome length any swash-buckler whose sword left its 
sheath too easily. 



34 GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 

Peculiar Weapons of Offense and Defense. 

Another spiked weapon, like a double rake, could be thrust between 
his legs and bring him to the earth. A third, shaped like a pitchfork, 
could hold him helpless under its wicket arch. Three heavy quarter 
staves were also ready to belabor the struggling wight who would not 
yield, while swords on the racks hung ready for the last resort, or when 
intruders came in numbers. On rows of pegs hung wooden tickets 
about three inches square, branded or inscribed with the names of the 
retainers and servants of the lord's house, which were handed to the 
keeper of the gate as they passed in or out. 

The soldiers wore armor made of thin scales of iron, steel, hardened 
hide, lacquered paper, brass, or shark-skin, chain-mail, and shields. The 
helmet was of iron, very strong, and lined within by buckskin. Its flap 
of articulated iron rings drooped well around the shoulders. The visor 
was of thin lacquered iron, the nose and mouth pieces being removable. 
The eyes were partially protected by the projecting front-piece. A 
false mustache was supposed to make the upper lip of the warrior dread- 
ful to behold. 

Armor Worn by a Noble. 

On the frontlet were the distinguishing symbols of the man, a pair 
of horns, a fish, an eagle, dragon, buckhorns, or flashing brass plates 
of various designs. Some of the helmets were very tall. Kato Kiyo- 
masa's was three feet high. On the top was a hole, in which a pennant 
was thrust, or an ornament shaped like a pear inserted. The "pear- 
splitter" was the fatal stroke in combat and the prize-cut in fencing. 
Behind the corselet on the back was another socket, in which the clan- 
flag was inserted. The breastplate was heavy and tough ; the arms, 
legs, abdomen, and thighs were protected by plates joiaed by woven 
chains. 

Shields were often used; and for forlorn hopes or assaults, cavalry- 
men made use of a stuffed bag resembling a bolster, to receive a volley 
of arrows. Besides being missile-proof, it held the arrows as spoils. 
On the shoulders, hanging loosely, were unusually wide and heavy 



GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 35 

brassarts, designed to deaden the force of the two-handed sword-stroke. 
Greaves and sandals completed the suit, which was laced and bound 
with iron clamps, and cords of buckskin and silk, and decorated with 
crests, gilt tassels, and glittering insignia. Suits of armor were black, 
white, purple, crimson, violet, green, golden or silver. 

Details of Army Life. 

The rations of the soldiers were rice, fish and vegetables. Instead 
of tents, huts of straw or boughs were easily erected to form a camp. 
The general's headquarters were enclosed by canvas, stretched on posts 
six feet high, on which his armorial bearings were wrought. The 
weapons were bows and arrows, spear, sword, and, rarely, battle-axes 
and bow-guns; for sieges, fire-arrows. 

The general's scabbard was of tiger-skin. Supplies of this material 
were obtained from Korea, where the animal abounds. His baton was 
a small lacquered wand, with a cluster of strips of thick white paper 
dependent from the point. Flags, banners, and streamers were freely 
used ; and a camp, castle, or moving army, in time of war, with its hun- 
dreds and thousands of flags, presented a gay and lively appearance. 
Drums, hard-wood clappers, and conch-shells sounded the reveille, the 
alarm, the onset, or the retreat. 

How a Battle Was Fought. 

Owing to the nature of the ground, consisting chiefly of mountains 
and valleys, or plains covered with rice-swamps intersected by narrow 
paths, infantry were usually depended upon. In besieging a castle, the 
intrenchments of the investing army consisted chiefly of a line of pali- 
sades or heavy planks, propped up from within by hinged supports, at 
an angle of forty-five degrees, behind which the besiegers fought or 
lived in camp life, while sentinels paced at the gates. Lookouts were 
posted on overlooking hills, in trees, or in towers erected for the pur- 
pose. 

Sometimes huge kites able to sustain a man were flown, and a bird's- 
eye view of the interior of the enemy's castle thus obtained. Fire, 



36 GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 

treachery, strategem, starvation, or shooting at long range having failed 
to compel surrender, an assault took place, in which the gates were 
smashed in or the walls scaled. Usually great loss resulted before the 
besiegers were driven off, or were victorious. 

Rough surgery awaited the wounded. An arrow-barb was usually 
pulled out by a jerk of the pincers. A sabre-cut was sewed or bound 
together with tough paper, of which every soldier carried a supply. The 
wonderfully adhesive, absorptive, and healing power of the soft, tough, 
quickly wet, easily hardening, or easily kept pliable, Japanese paper 
made excellent plasters, bandages, tourniquets, cords, and towels. In 
the dressing of wounds, the native doctors to this day excel. 

Origin of Hara-Kiri. 

"Seppuku" (belly-cut) or "hara-kiri" also came into vogue about the 
time of the beginning of the domination of the military classes. At 
first, after a battle, the wounded fell on their swords, drove them 
through their mouth or breast, or cut their throats. Often a famous 
soldier, before dying, would flay and score his own face beyond recog- 
nition so that his enemies might not glory over him. 

This grew into a principle of honor; and frequently the unscathed 
survivors, defeated, and feeling the cause hopeless, or retainers whose 
master was slain, committed suicide. Hence arose, in the Ashikaga 
period, the fashion of wearing two swords ; one of which, the longer, 
was for enemies ; the other, shorter, for the wearer's own body. The 
practice of hara-kiri as a judicial sentence and punishment did not come 
into vogue until in the time of the Tokugawas. 

The Use of the Ko-Katana. 

Thrust into a tiny scabbard at the side of the dirk, or small sword, 
was a pair of chopsticks to eat with in camp. Anciently these were 
skewers, to thrust through the top-knot of a decapitated enemy, that 
the head might be easily carried. Besides, or in lieu of them, was a 
small miniature sword, "ko-katana" (little sword), or long, narrow 
knife. Although this was put to various trivial uses, such as those for 
which we employ a penknife, yet its primary purpose was that of the 



GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. . 37 

card of the owner. Each sword was adorned with some symbol or crest, 
which served to mark the clan, family, or person of the owner. 

The Satsuma men wore swords with red-lacqiiered scabbards. Later, 
the Tokugawa vassals, who fought in the battle of Sekigahara, were 
called "white hilts," because they wore swords of extraordinary length, 
with white hilts. The bat, the falcon, the dragon, lion, tiger, owl, and 
hawk were among the. most common designs wrought in gold, lacquer, 
carving, or alloy on the hilts, handles, or scabbard ; and on the ko-katana 
was engraved the name of the owner. 

The Vendetta. 

Feudalism was the m.other of brawls innumerable, and feuds between 
families and clans continually existed. The wife whose husband was 
slain by the grudge-bearer brought up her sons religiously to avenge 
their father's death. The vendetta was unhindered by law and applauded 
by society. The moment of revenge selected was usually that of the 
victim's proudest triumph. After promotion to office, succession to 
patrimony, or at his marriage ceremony, the sword of the avenger did 
its bloody work. 

Many a bride found herself a widow on her wedding-night. Many 
a child became an orphan in the hour of the father's acme of honor. 
When the murder was secret, at night, or on the wayside, the head was 
cut of¥, and the avenger, plucking out his ko-katana, thrust it in the ear 
of the victim, and let it lie on the public highway, or sent it to be de- 
posited before the gate of the house. The ko-katana, with the name en- 
graved on it, told the whole story. 

Whenever the lord of a clan wished his rival or enemy out of the 
way, he gave the order of Herodias to her daughter to his faithful re- 
tainers, and usually the head in due time was brought before him, as 
was John's, on a charger or ceremonial stand. 

Etiquette of the Sword. 

The most minutely detailed etiquette presided over the sword, the 
badge of the gentleman. The visitor whose means allowed him to be 
accompanied by a servant always left his long sword in his charge when 



38 GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 

entering a friend's house; the salutation being repeated bowing of the 
forehead to the floor while on the hands and knees, the breath being 
sucked in at the same time with an impressive sound. The degree of 
obeisance was accurately graded according to rank. If alone, the visitor 
laid his sword on the floor of the vestibule. The host's servants, if so 
instructed by their master, then, with a silk napkin in hand, removed 
it inside and placed it, with all honor, on the sword-rack. 

At meetings betv/een those less familiar, the sheathed weapon was 
withdrawn from the girdle and laid on the floor to the right, an indica- 
tion of friendship, since it could not be drawn easily. Under suspicious 
circumstances, it was laid to the left, so as to be at hand. On short 
visits, the dirk was retained in the girdle; on festal occasions, or pro- 
longed visits, it was withdrawn. To clash the sheath of one's sword 
against that of another was a breach of etiquette that often resulted in 
instantaneous and bloody reprisal. 

To turn the sheath in the belt as if about to draw was tantamount 
to a challenge. To lay one's weapon on the floor of a room, and kick 
the guard toward a person, was an insult that generally resulted in a 
combat to the death. Even to touch another's weapon in any way was a 
grave offense. No weapon was ever exhibited naked for any purpose, 
unless the wearer first profusely begged pardon of those present. A 
wish to see a sword was seldom made, unless the blade was a rare one. 
The owner then held the back of the sword to the spectator, with the 
edge toward himself, and the hilt, wrapped in the little silk napkin 
which gentlemen always carry in their pocketbooks, or a piece of white 
paper, to the left. 

The blade was then withdrawn from the scabbard, and admired inch 
by inch, but never entirely withdrawn unless the owner pressed his 
guest to do so, when, with much apology, the sword was entirely with- 
drawn and held away from those present. Many a gentleman took a 
pride in making collections of swords, and the men of every samurai 
family wore weapons that were heirlooms, often centuries old. Women 
wore short swords when traveling, and the palace ladies in time of fires 
armed themselves. 



GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 39 

The Land of Many Blades. 

In no country has the sword been made an object of such honor as in 
Japan. It is at once a divine symbol, a knightly weapon, and a certifi- 
cate of noble birth. "The girded sword is the soul of the samurai." It 
is "the precious possession of lord and vassal from times older than the 
divine period." Japan is "the land of many blades." The gods wore 
and wielded two-edged swords. From the tail of the dragon was born 
the sword which the Sun-goddess gave to the first emperor of Japan. 
By the sword of the clustering clouds of heaven Yamato-Dake subdued 
the East. ' By the sword the mortal heroes of Japan won their fame. 

"There's naught 'twixt heaven and earth that man need fear, who 
carries at his belt this single blade." "One's fate is in the hands of 
Heaven, but a skillful fighter does not meet with death." "In the last 
days, one's sword becomes the wealth of one's posterity." These are, 
the mottoes graven on Japanese swords. 

Forging a Sword. 

Names of famous swords belonging to the Taira, Minamoto, and 
other families are, "Little Crow," "Beard-cutter," "Knee-divider." The 
two latter, when tried on sentenced criminals, after severing the heads 
from the body, cut the beard, and divided the knee respectively. The 
forging of a sword occupied the smith sixty days, and was often a re- 
ligious ceremony. No artisans were held in greater honor than the 
sword-makers, and some of them even rose to honorary rank. 

The names of Munechicka, Masamune, Yoshimitsu, and Muramasa, 
a few out of many noted smiths, are familiar words in the mouths of 
even Japanese children. The names, or marks and dates, of famous 
makers were always attached to their blades, and from the ninth to the 
fifteenth century were sure to be genuine. In later times, the practice 
of counterfeiting the marks of well-known makers came into vogue. 
Certain swords considered of good omen in one family were deemed 
unlucky in others. The ordinary length of a sword was a fraction over 
two feet for the long and one foot for the short sword. All lengths 



40 GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 

were, however, made use of, and some of the old warriors on horseback 
wore swords over six feet long. 

Elaborate Workmanship. 

The Japanese sword-blade averages about an inch in width, about 
seven-eighths of which is a backing of iron, to which a face of steel is 
forged along its entire length. The back, about one-fourth of an inch 
thick, bevels out very slightly to near the center of the blade, which 
then narrows to a razor edge. The steel and the forging line are easily 
distinguished by a cloudiness on the mirror-like polish of the metal. An 
inch and a quarter from the point, the width of the blade having been 
decreased one-fourth, the edge is ground of? to a semi-parabola, meet- 
ing the back, which is prolonged, untouched; the curve of the whole 
blade, from a straight line, being less than a quarter of an inch. 

The guard is often a piece of elaborate workmanship in metal, repre- 
senting a landscape, water-scene, or various emblems. The hilt is formed 
by covering the prolonged iron handle by shark-skin and wrapping this 
with twisted silk. The ferrule, washers, and cleats are usually inlaid, 
embossed, or chased in gold, silver, or alloy. The rivets in the center 
of the handle are concealed by designs, often of solid gold, such as the 
lion, dragon, cock, etc. 

The Emblem of Social Rank. 

In full dress, the color of the scabbard was black, with a tinge of 
green or red in it, and the bindings of the hilt of blue silk. The taste 
of the wearer was often displayed in the color, size or method of wear- 
ing his sword, gay or proud fellows affecting startling colors or extrava- 
gant length. Riven through ornamental ferrules at the side of the scab- 
bards were long, flat cords of woven silk of various tints, which were 
used to tie up the flowing sleeves, preparatory to fighting. Every part 
of a sword was richly inlaid, or expensively finished. Daimios often 
spent extravagant sums on a single blade, and small fortunes on a col- 
lection. 

A samurai, however poor, would have a blade of sure temper and 
rich mountings, deem.ing it honorable to suffer for food, that he might 



GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 41 

have a worthy emblem of his social rank. A description of the various 
styles of blade and scabbard, lacquer, ornaments, and the rich vocabulary 
of terms minutely detailing each piece entering into the construction 
of a Japanese sword, the etiquette to be observed, the names, mottoes 
and legends relating to them, would fill a large volume closely printed. A 
considerable portion of native literature is devoted to this one subject. 

Japanese Bow and Arrows. 

The bow and arrows were the chief weapons for siege and long- 
range operations. A Japanese bow has a peculiar shape. It was made 
of well-selected oak ("kashi"), incased on both sides with a semi-cylin- 
der of split bamboo toughened by fire. The three pieces composing the 
bow were then bound firmly into one piece by thin withes of rattan, 
making an excellent combination of lightness, strength, and elasticity. 
The string was of hemp. Arrows were of various kinds and lengths, 
according to the arms of th/s arches. The average length of the war- 
arrow was three feet. 

The "turnip-head," "frog-crotch," "willow-leaf," "armor-piercer," 
"bowel-raker," were a few of the various names for arrows. The "tur- 
nip-top," so named from its shape, made a singing noise as it flew. The 
"frog-crotch," shaped like a pitchfork, or the hind legs of a leaping 
frog, with edged blades, was used to cut down flags or helmet lacings. 
The "willow-leaf" was a two-edged, unbarbed head, shaped like the leaf 
of a willow. The "bowel-raker" was of a frightful shape, well worthy 
of the name; and the victim whose diaphragm it penetrated was not 
likely to stir about afterward. The "armor-piercer" was a plain bolt- 
head, with nearly blunt point, well calculated to punch through a breast- 
plate. 

Barbs of steel were of various shape; sometimes very heavy, and 
often handsomely open-worked. The shaft was of cane bamboo, with 
string-piece of bone or horn, whipped on with silk. Quivers were of 
leather, water-proof paper, or thin lacquered wood, and often splendidly 
adorned. Gold-inlaid weapons were common among the rich soldiers, 
and the outfit of an officer often cost many hundreds of dollars. 



42 GROWTH AND CUSTOMS OF FEUDALISM. 

Old Tools of War as Symbols of Peace. 

Not a few of these old tools of war have lost their significance, and 
have become household adornments, objects of art, or symbols of peace. 
Such especially are the emblems of the carpenters' guild, which consist 
of the half-feathered "turnip-head" arrow, wreathed with leaves of the 
same succulent, and the "frog-crotch," inserted in the mouth of a dragon, 
crossed upon the ancient mallet of the craft. These adorn temples or 
houses, or are carried in the local parades or festivals. 

As Buddhism had become the professed religion of the entire nation, 
the vast majority of the military men were Buddhists. Each had his 
patron or deity. The soldier went into battle with an image of Buddha 
sewed in his helmet, and after victory ascribed glory to his divine de- 
liverer. Many temples in Japan are the standing monuments of triumph 
in battle, or vows performed. Many of the noted captains, notably Kato, 
inscribed their banners with texts from the classics or the prayers, 
"Namu Amida Butsu," or "Namu mio ho," etc., according to their sect. 

Amulets and Charms. 

Amulets and charms were worn almost without exception, and many 
a tale is told of arrows turned aside, or swords broken, that struck on 
a sacred image, picture, or text. Before entering a battle, or perform- 
ing a special feat of skill or valor, the hero uttered the warrior's prayer, 
"Namu Hachiman Dai-bosatsu" ("Glory to Hachiman, the incarnation 
of Great Buddha"). Though brave heroes must, like ordinary men, pass 
through purgatory, yet death on the batle-field was reckoned highly 
meritorious, and the happiness of the warrior's soul in the next world 
was secured by the prayers of his wife and children. 



CHAPTER III. 
LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES 

Victories of Peace — The Primal Japanese Type — Religious Institutions — ^Images, Idols 
and Bells — Influence of tlie Priests — Mediaeval Science, Art and Literature — ^Pro- 
vincial Barriers — Medicine and Surgery — Court Life — Evolution of the Language. 

HISTORY, as usually written, gives the impression that the normal 
condition of mankind is that of war. Japanese students who 
take up the history of England to read, lay it down convinced that the 
English people are a blood-loving race that are perpetually fighting. 
They contrast their own peaceful country with the countries of Europe, 
to the detriment of the latter. They turn most gladly from the monoto- 
nous story of battle, murder, and sieges, to Buckle, Guizot, or Lecky, that 
they may learn of the victories no less renowned than those of war 
which mark as mile-stones the progress of the race. 

A Period of Peace. 

Permanent, universal peace was unknown in Japan until, by the 
genius of lyeyasu in the sixteenth century, two centuries and a half 
of this blessing were secured. Nevertheless, in the eight centuries in- 
cluded between the eighth and the sixteenth of our era were many, and 
often lengthened, intervals of peace. 

In many sequestered places the sandal of the warrior and the hoof 
of the war-horse never printed the soil. Peace in the palace, in the city, 
in the village, allowed the development of manners, arts, manufactures, 
and agriculture. In this period were developed the characteristic 
growths of the Japanese intellect, imagination, social economy, and 
manual skill that have made the hermit nation unique in the earth and 
Japanese art productions the wonder of the world. 

43 



44 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 



The Chinese Influence. 



The introduction of continental or Chinese civilization into Japan 
was not a simple act of adoption. It was rather a work of selection and 
assimilation. As in this twentieth century, the Japanese is no blind 
copyist, he improves on what he borrows. Although the traveler from 
China entering Japan can see in a moment whence the Japanese have 
borrowed their civilization, and though he may believe the Japanese to 
be an inferior type to the Chinese, he will acknowledge that the Japanese 
have improved upon their borrowed elements fully as much as the 
French have improved upon those of Roman civilization. 

Many reflecting foreigners in Japan have asked the question why 
the Japanese are so unlike the Chinese, and why their art, literature, 
laws, customs, dress, workmanship, all bear a stamp peculiar to them- 
selves, though they received so much from them. The reason is to be 
found in the strength and persistence of the primal Japanese type of 
character, as influenced by nature, enabling it to resist serious altera- 
tion and radical change. The greatest conquests made by any of the 
imparted elements of continental civilization was that of Buddhism, 
which became within ten centuries the universally popular religion. 

Japanese Buddhism. 

Yet even its conquests were but partial. Its triumph was secured 
only by its adulteration. Japanese Buddhism is a distinct product among 
the many forms of that Asiatic religion. Buddhism secured life and 
growth on Japanese soil only by being Japanized, by being grafted on 
the original stock of ideas in the Japanese mind. Thus, in order to 
popularize the Indian religion, the ancient native heroes and the local 
gods were all included within the Buddhist pantheon, and declared to 
be the incarnations of Buddha in his various forms. A class of deities 
exists in Japan who are worshiped by the Buddhists under the general 
name of "gongen.". They are all deified Japanese heroes, warriors, or 
famous men. Furthermore, many of the old rites and ceremonies of 
Shinto were altered and made use of by the "bonzes," or priests. 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 45 

It may be doubted whether Buddhism could have ever been popular 
in Japan, had it not become thoroughly Japanized. Some of the first 
fruits of the success of the new religion was the erection of temples, 
pagodas, idols, wayside shrines, monasteries, and nunneries; the adop- 
tion of the practice of cremation, until then unknown ; and the cessation 
of the slaughter of animals for food. The largest and richest of the 
ecclesiastical structures were in or near Kioto. The priests acted as 
teachers, advisers, counselors, and scribes, besides officiating at the al- 
tars, shriving the sick and attending the sepulture of the dead. 

Mediaeval Monasteries. 

Among the orders and sects which grew and multiplied were many 
similar to those in papal Europe — mendicants, sellers of indulgences, 
builders of shrines and images, and openers of mountain paths. The 
monasteries became asylums for the distressed, afflicted and persecuted. 
In them the defeated soldier, the penniless and dissatisfied, the refugee 
from the vendetta, could find inviolate shelter. To them the warrior 
after war, the prince and the minister leaving the palace, the honors 
and pomp of the world; could retire to spend the remnant of their days 
in prayer, worship, and the offices of piety. Often the murderer, struck 
with remorse, or the soldier before his bloody victim, would resolve to 
turn monk. 

Not rarely did men crossed in love, or the offspring of the concubine 
displaced by the birth of the legitimate son, or the grief-stricken father, 
devote himself to the priestly life. In general, however, the ranks of the 
bonzes were recruited from orphans or piously inclined youth, or from 
overstocked families. To the nunneries, the fertile soil of bereavement, 
remorse, unrequited love, widowhood furnished the greater number of 
sincere and devout nuns. In many cases, the deliberate choice of wealthy 
ladies, or the necessity of escaping an uncongenial marriage planned 
by relatives, undesirable attentions, or the lusts of rude men in unsettled 
times, gave many an inmate to the convents. 



46 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 

Class Who Entered Religious Institutions. 

In general, however, natural indolence, a desire to avoid the round 
of drudgery at the well, the hoe, or in the kitchen, or as nurse, sent the 
majority of applicants to knock at the convent doors. Occasionally a 
noble lady was won to recluse life from the very apartments of the em- 
peror, or his ministers, by the eloquence of a bonze who was more zeal- 
ous than loyal. In a few of the convents, only ladies of wealth could 
enter. The monk and nun, in Japanese as in European history, romance, 
and drama, and art, are staple characters. 

The rules of these monastic institutions forbade the eating of fish 
or flesh, the drinking of "sake," the wearing of the hair or of fine 
clothes, indulgence in certain sensuous pleasures, or the reading of cer- 
tain books. Fastings, vigils, reflection, continual prayer by book, bell, 
candle, and beads, were enjoined. Pious pilgrimages were undertaken. 
The erection of a shrine, image belfry, or lantern by begging contribu- 
tions was a frequent and meritorious enterprise. There stand today 
thousands of these monuments of the piety, zeal, and industry of the 
mediaeval monks and nuns. Those at Nara and Kamakura are the most 
famous. 

A Celebrated Image. 

The "Kamakura Dai Butsu" ("Great Buddha") has been frequently 
described. It is a mass of copper 44 feet high, and a work of high art. 
The image at Nara was first erected in the eighth century, destroyed 
during the civil wars, and recast about seven hundred years ago. Its 
total height is 53]^ feet; its face is 16 feet long and 95^ feet wide. The 
width of its shoulders is 28 7-10 feet. 

Nine hundred and sixty-six curls adorn its head, around which is 
a halo 78 feet in diameter, on which are sixteen images, each 8 feet long. 
The casting of the idol is said to have been tried seven times before it 
was successfully accomplished, and 3,000 tons of charcoal were used in 
the operation. The metal, said to weigh 450 tons, is a bronze composed 
of gold (500 pounds), mercury (1,954 pounds), tin (16,827 pounds), and 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 47 

copper (986,080 pounds). Many millions of tons of copper were mined 
and melted to make these idols. 

Japanese Temple Bells. 

Equally renowned were the great temple-bells of Kioto, and of 
Miidera, and various other monasteries. Some of these were ten feet 
high, and adorned with sacred texts from the Buddhist Scriptures, and 
images of heavenly beings, or Buddha on the sacred lotus in Nirvana, 
in high relief. As usual, the nimbus, or halo, surrounds his head. 

The bell was struck on a raised round spot, by a hammer of wood — 
a small tree-trunk swung loosely on two ropes. After impact, the bell- 
man held the beam on its rebound, until the quivering monotone began 
to die away. Few sounds are more solemnly sweet than the mellow 
music of a Japanese temple-bell. On a still night, a circumference of 
twenty miles was flooded by the melody of the great bell of Zozoji. The 
people learned to love their temple-bell as a dear friend, as its note 
changed with the years and moods of life. 

The Casting of a Bell. 

The casting of a bell was ever the occasion of rejoicing and public 
festival. When the chief priest of the city announced that one was to 
be made, the people brought contributions in money, or offerings of 
bronze gold, pure tin, or copper vessels. Ladies gave with their own 
hands the mirrors which had been the envy of lovers, young girls laid 
their silver hair-pins and bijouterie on the heap. When metal enough 
and in due proportion had been amassed, crucibles were made, earth- 
furnaces dug, the moulds fashioned, and huge bellows, worked by stand- 
mg men at each end, like a see-saw, were mounted; and after due 
prayers and consultation, the auspicious day was appointed. 

The place selected was usually on a hill or commanding place. The 
people, in their gayest dress, assembled in picnic parties, and with song 
and dance and feast waited while the workmen, in festal uniform, toiled, 
and the priests, in canonical robes, watched. The fires were lighted, 
the bellows oscillated, the blast roared, and the crucibles were brought 



48 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 

to the proper heat and the contents to fiery fluidity, the joy of the crowd 
increasing as each stage in the process is announced. When the molten 
flood was finally poured into the mould, the excitement of the spectators 
reached a height of uncontrollable enthusiasm. 

Religious Observations. 

Another pecuniary harvest was reaped by the priests before the 
crowds dispersed, by the sale of stamped kerchiefs or paper containing 
a holy text, or certifying to the presence of the purchaser at the cere- 
mony, and the blessing of the gods upon him therefor. Such a token 
became an heirloom; and the child who ever afterward heard the 
solemn boom of the bell at matin or evening was constrained, by filial 
as well as holy motives, to obey and reverence its admonitory call. The 
belfry was usually a separate building apart from the temple, with 
elaborate cornices and roof. 

In addition to the offices of religion, many of the priests were useful 
men, and real civilizers. They were not all lazy monks or idle bonzes. 
By the Buddhist priests many streams were spanned with bridges, paths 
and roads made, shade or fruit trees planted, ponds and ditches for pur- 
poses of irrigation dug, aqueducts built, unwholesome localities 
drained, and mountain passes discovered or explored. Many were the 
school-masters, and, as learned men, were consulted on subjects beyond 
the ken of their parishioners. Some of them, having a knowledge of 
medicine, acted as physicians. 

Japan Owes Much to the Priests. 

The sciences and arts in Japan all owe much to the bonzes who from 
Korea personally introduced many useful appliances or articles of food. 
Several edible vegetables are still named after the priests, who first 
taught their use. The exact sciences, astronomy and mathematics, as 
well as the humanities, owe much of their cultivation and development 
to clerical scholars. In the monasteries, the brethren exercised their 
varied gifts in preaching, study, caligraphy, carving, sculpture, or on 
objects of ecclesiastical art. 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 49 

The monuments by which the memory of many a saintly bonze is 
still kept green exists today as treasures on the altars, or in the temple 
or its shady precincts, in winged words or material substances. A copy 
of the Buddhist Scriptures, a sacred classic, in roll or bound volume, 
might occupy a holy penman before his brush and inkstone for years. 
The manuscript texts often seen in the h'all of worship on silky paper 
bound in damask, in Japanese monasteries, could not be improved in 
elegance and accurac}'- by the printer's art. The transcription of a sutra 
on silk, made to adorn the wall of a shrine, in many cases performed 
its mission for centuries. 

The Many Accomplishments of the Bonzes. 

Another monk excelled in improvisation of sacred stanzas, another 
painted the pictures and scrolls by which the multitude were taught by 
the priest, with his pointer in hand, the mysteries of theology, the 
symbols of worship, the terrors of the graded hells and purgatories, and 
the felicities of Nirvana. Another of the fraternity, with cunning hand, 
compelled the wonder of his brethren by his skill in carving. 

He could, from a log which today had its bark on, bring forth in time 
the serene countenance of Buddha, the ravishing beauty of Kuanon, 
the Goddess of Mercy, the scowling terrors of the God of War, the 
frightful visage of Fudo, or the hideous face of the Lord of Hell. 
Another was famous for molding the clay for the carver, the sculptor, 
or the bronze-smith. Many articles of altar furniture, even to the in- 
cense-sticks and flowers, were often made entirely by clerical hands. 

The Industrial Arts in the Middle Ages. 

During^ the Middle Ages, the arts of pottery, lacquering, gilding, 
bronze-casting, engraving and chasing, chisel and punch work, sword- 
making, goldsmith's work, were brought to a perfection never since ex-* 
celled, if indeed it has been equaled. In enameled and inlaid metal 
work the hand of the Japanese artisan has undoubtedly lost its cunning. 
Native archaeologists assert that a good catalogue of "lost arts" may 



50 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 

be made out, notably those of the composition and application of violet 
lacquer, and the ancient Cloisonne enamel. 

The delicacy of tact, freedom of movement, and perfection of finish 
visible on Japanese work, are the result of long hereditary application 
and concentrated skill. Hidden away in sequestered villages, or occupy- 
ing the same workshop in cities for centuries, generations of craftsmen 
wrought upon one class of objects, until from the workman's hand is 
born the offspring of a long pedigree of thought and dexterity. 

The Discovery of Lacquer Ware. 

Japanese antiquarians fix the date of the discovery of lacquer ware 
variously at A.. D. 724 and 900. Echizen, from the first, has been noted 
for the abundance and luxuriant yield of lacquer-trees, and the skill of 
her workmen in extracting the milk-white virgin sap, which the action 
of the air turns to black, and which by pigments is changed to various 
colors. In the thirteenth century the art of gold-lacquering attained 
the zenith of perfection. Various schools of lacquer art were founded, 
one excelling in landscape, another in marine scenery, or the delineation, 
in gold and silver powder and varnish, of birds, insects, and flowers. 
The masters who flourished during this period still rule the pencil of 
the modern artist. 

Kioto, as the civil and military as well as ecclesiastical capital of the 
empire, was the center and standard of manners, language, and etiquette, 
of art, literature, religion, and government. No people are more courtly 
and polished in their manners than the Japanese. The direct influences 
of court life have made themselves perceptibly felt on the inhabitants of 
the city. 

Kioto, the Holy City. 

From this center radiated the multifarious influences which have 
molded the character of the nation. The country priest came as pilgrim 
to the capital as to the Holy City, to strengthen his faith and cheer his 
soul amidst its aspirations, to see the primates and magnates of his 
sect, to pray at the famous shrines, to study in the largest monasteries, 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 51 

under the greatest lights and holiest teachers. Returning to his parish, 
new sanctity was shed from his rustling robes. His brethren welcomed 
him with awe, and the people thronged to see and venerate the holy- 
man who had drunk at the very fountains of the faith. The temple 
coflers grew heavy with the weight of offerings because of him. 

The sons of the nobleman in distant provinces were sent to Kioto 
to be educated, to learn reading and writing from the priests, the per- 
fection of the art of war in the army, the etiquette of palace life as pages 
to, or as guests of, the court nobles. The artisan or rich merchant 
from Oshiu or Kadzusa, who had made the journey to Kioto, astonished 
his wondering listeners at home with tales of the splendor of the pro- 
cessions of the mikado, the wealth of the temples, the number of the 
pagodas, the richness of the silk robes of the court nobles, and the 
wonders which the Kioto potters and vase-makers, sword-forgers, gold- 
smiths, lacquerers, crystal-cutters, and bronze-moulders, daily exposed 
in their shops, in profusion. 

The Seat of Learning. 

In Kioto also dwelt the poets, novelists, historians, grammarians, 
writers, and the purists, whose dicta were laws. By them were written 
the great bulk of the classic literature, embracing poetry, drama, fiction, 
history, philosophy, etiquette, and the numerous diaries and works on 
travel in China, Korea, and the remote provinces of the country, and 
the books called "Kagami" ("mirrors") of the times, now so interesting 
to the antiquarian student. 

Occasionally nobles or court ladies would leave the luxury of the 
city, and take up their abode in a castle, tower, pagoda, or temple room, 
or on some mountain overlooking Lake Biwa, the sea, or the Yodo 
River, or the plains of Yamato; and amidst its inspiring scenery, with 
tiny table, ink-stone and brush, pen some prose epic or romance, that 
has since become an immortal classic. 

Almost every mansion of the nobles had its "looking-room," or 
"chamber of inspiring view," whence to gaze upon the landscape or 
marine scenery. Rooms set apart for the aesthetic pleasure still form 



52 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 

a feature of the house of nearly every modern native of means. On 
many a coigne of vantage may be seen also the summer-houses or rustic 
booths, where gather pleasure parties or picnics. ~ 

Provincial Customs. 

In the civil administration of the empire, the chief work was to 
dispense justice, punish offenders, collect taxes, and settle disputes. 
After the rude surveys of those days the boundaries of provinces and 
departments were marked by inscribed posts of wood or stone. Before 
the days of writing, the same end was secured by charcoal buried in the 
earth at certain points, the durability of which insured' the mark against 
decay. 

The peasants, after the rice-harvest was over, brought their tribute, 
or taxes, with joyful ceremony, to the government granaries in straw 
bags, packed on horses gaily decorated with scarlet housings, and jing- 
ling with clusters of small bells. A relic of this custom is seen in the 
bunches of bells suspended by red cotton stuff from the rear of 
the pack-saddle, which dangle musically from the ungainly haunches of 
the native sumpters. 

Barriers Between Provinces. 

From earliest times there existed "seki" (guard gates or barriers) 
between the various provinces at mountain passes or strategic points. 
As feudalism developed, they grew more numerous. A fence of palisades, 
stretched across the road, guarded the path through which, according 
to time, or orders of the keepers, none could pass with arms, or without 
the pass-word or pass-port. 

Anciently they were erected at the Hakone and other mountain 
passes, to keep up the distinction between the Ainos and the pure 
Japanese. The possession of these barriers was ever an important 
object of rival military commanders, and the shifts, devices, and extraor- 
dinary artifices resorted to by refugees, disguised worthies, and for- 
bidden characters, furnish the historian, the novelist, and dramatist with 
some of their most thrilling episodes. 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 53 

An Interesting Anecdote. 

It is related of Yoshitsune, after he had incurred the wrath of Yori- 
tomo, that, with Benkei, his servant, he arrived at a guard gate kept 
by some Genji soldiers, who would have been sure to arrest him had 
they discovered his august personality. Disguised as wandering priests 
of the Buddhist sect Yama-bushi, they approached the gate, and were 
challenged by the sentinel, who, like most of his class at that time, was 
ignorant of writing. 

Benkei, with great dignity, drawing from his bosom a roll of blank 
paper, began, after touching it reverently to his forehead, to extemporize 
and read aloud in choicest and most pious language a commission from 
the high-priest at the temple of Hokoji, in Kioto, in which stood the 
great image of Buddha, authorizing him to collect money to cast a 
colossal bell for the temple. 

At the first mention of the name of his reverence, the renowned 
priest, so talismanic in all the empire, the soldier dropped down on his 
knees with face to the ground, and listened with reverent awe, unaware 
that the paper was as blank as the reader's tongue was glib. To further 
lull suspicion, Benkei apologized for the rude conduct of his servant- 
boy, who stood during the reading, because he was only a boor just 
out of the rice-fields ; and, giving him a kick, bid him get down on his 
marrow-bones, and not stand up in the presence of a gentleman and a 
soldier. The ruse was complete. The illustrious youth and his servant 
passed on. 

Medical and Surgical Science. 

Medical science made considerable progress in the course of cen- 
turies. The materia medica, system, practice, and literature of the heal- 
ing art were borrowed from China; but upon these, as upon most other 
matters, the Japanese improved. Acupuncture, or the introduction of 
needles into living tissues for remedial purposes, was much improved by 
the Japanese. The puncturing needles, as fine as a hair, were made 
of gold, silver, or tempered steel, by experts. 

The bones, large nerves, or blood vessels were carefully avoided in 



54 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 

the process, which enjoyed great repute in cases of a peculiar violent 
colic, to which the natives are subject, and which sometimes becomes 
epidemic. On the theory that this malady was caused by wind, holes 
were made in the stomach or abdomen, to the mystic number of nine — 
corresponding to the nine apertures of the body. 

Popular Remedies. 

"Moxa" (Japanese, "mokusa;" "mo," fire; from "moyeru," to burn, 
and "kusa," herb, grass), or the burning of a small cone of cottony fibers 
of the artemisia, on the back or feet, was practiced as early as the 
eleventh century, reference being made to it in a poem written at that 
time. A number of ancient stanzas and puns, relating to Mount Ibuki, 
on the sides of which the mugwort grows luxuriantly, are still extant. 
To this day it is an exception to find the backs of the common people 
unscarred with the spots left by the moxa. 

The use of mercury in corrosive sublimate was very anciently known. 
The "do-sha" powder, however, which was said to cure various diseases, 
and to relax the rigid limbs of a corpse, was manufactured and sold only 
by the bonzes of the Shin Gon sect. It is, and always was, a pious 
fraud, being nothing but unefficacious quartz sand, mixed with grains 
of mica and pyrites. 

Wine, Women and Song. 

Of the mediaeval sports and pastimes within and without of doors, 
the former were preferred by the weak and effeminate, the latter by 
the hale and strong. Banquets and carousals in the palace were frequent. 
The brewing of sake from rice was begun, according to record, in the 
third century, and the office of chief butler even earlier. The native 
sauce, "sho-yu," made of fermented wheat and beans, with salt and 
vinegar, which the cunning purveyors of Europe use as the basis of 
their high-priced piquant sauces, was made and used as early as the 
twelfth century. 

The name of this saline oil ("sho," salt; "yu," oil) appears as "soy" 
in our dictionaries, it being one of the three words (soy, bonze, moxa) 
which we have borrowed fraaj tke Japanese. At the feasts, besides the 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 55 

wine and delicacies to please the palate, music, song, and dance made 
the feast of reason and the flow of soul, while witty and beautiful women 
lent grace and added pleasure to the festivities. 

Court Life. 

In long, trailing robes of white, crimson, or highly figured silk, with 
hair flowing in luxuriance over the shoulders, and bound gracefully in 
one long tress which fell below the waist behind, maids and ladies of 
the palace rained glances and influence upon the favored ones. They 
fired the heart of admirers by the bewitching beauty of a well-formed 
hand, foot, neck, face, or form decked with whatever added charms 
cosmetics could bestow upon them. Japanese ladies have ever been 
noted for neatness, good taste, and, on proper occasions, splendor and 
luxuriance of dress. 

With fan, and waving long sleeve, the language of secret but out- 
wardly decorous passion found ample expression. Kisses, the pressure 
of the hand, and other symbols of love as expressed in other lands, were 
then, as now, unknown. In humble life, also, in all their social pleasures 
the two sexes met together to participate in the same delights, with far 
greater freedom than is known in Asiastic countries. As, however, 
wives or concubines have not always the attractions of youth, beauty, 
wit, maidenly freshness, or skill at the "koto," the "geisha," or singing- 
girl, then as now, served the sake, danced, sung, and played, and was 
rewarded by the gold or gifts of the host, or perhaps became his Hagar. 

Diversions Peculiar to the Palace. 

The statement that the empress was attended only by "vestals who 
had never beheld a man" is disproved by a short study of the volumes 
of poetry, amorous and otherwise, written by them, and still quoted as 
classic. As to the standard of virtue in those days, I believe it was 
certainly not below that of the later Roman empire, and I am inclined 
to believe it was far above it. 

In the court at Kioto, besides games of skill or chance in the house, 
were foot-ball, cock-fighting, falconry, horsemanship, and archery. The 



56 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 

robust games of the military classes were hunting the boar, deer, bear, 
and smaller game. Hunting by falcons, which had been introduced by 
some Korean ambassadors in the time of Jingu Kogo, was almost as 
extensively practiced as in Europe, almost every feudal lord having his 
perch of falcons. 

Fishing by cormorants, though a useful branch of the fisherman's in- 
dustry, was also indulged in for pleasure. The severe exercise of hunting 
for sport, however, never became as absorbing and popular in Japan as 
in Europe, being confined more to the profession of huntsman, and the 
seeker for daily food. 

Favorite Forms of Amusement. 

The court ladies shaved off their eyebrows, and pointed two sable 
bars or spots on the forehead resembling false eyebrows. In addition to 
the gentle tasks of needle-work and embroidery, they passed the time 
in games of chess, checkers, painted shells, and a diversion peculiar to 
the palace, in which the skill of the player depended on her sensitiveness 
in appreciating perfumes, the necessary articles being vials of fragrant 
extracts. Their pets were the peculiar little dogs called "chin." 

They stained their teeth black, like the women of the lower classes ; 
an example which the nobles of the sterner sex followed, as they grew 
more and more effeminate. One of the staple diversions of both sexes 
at the court was to write poetry, and recite it to each other. The em- 
peror frequently honored a lady or noble by giving the chosen one a 
subject upon which to compose a poem. A happy thought, skilfully 
wrought stanza, a felicitous grace of pantomime, often made the poetess 
a maid of honor, a concubine, or even an empress, and the poet a min- 
ister or councilor. 

The Origin of a Classic. 

Another favorite means of amusement was to write and read or tell 
stories — the Scheherezade of these being a beautiful lady, who often 
composed her own stories. The following instance is abbreviated from 
the Onna Dai Gaku ("Woman's Great Study") : Ise no Taiyu was a 
daughter of Sukeichika, the mikado's minister of festivals, and a highly 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 57 

accomplished lady. None among the ladies of the court could equal 
her. One day a branch of luxuriant cherry-blossoms was brought from 
Nara. The emperor gave it to her, and asked her to extemporize a verse. 
She did so, and the courtiers were all astonished at the beauty and deli- 
cate sentiment of the verse. 

Sei Shonagon was the daughter of Kiyowara no Motosuke. She was 
one of the imperial concubines. She was well read in Japanese and 
Chinese literature, and composed poetry almost from infancy, having a 
wonderful facility of improvization. One day, after a fall of snow, she 
looked out from the southern door of the palace. 

The emperor, having passed round the wine-cup to his lords and 
ladies at the usual morning assembly of the courtiers and maids of honor, 
said, "How is the snow of Kuraho?" No one else understood the mean- 
ing, but Sei Shonagon instantly stepped forward and drew up the cur- 
tains, revealing the mountains decked in fresh-fallen snow. The em- 
peror was delighted, and bestowed upon her a prize. Sei Shonagon 
had understood his allusion to the line in an ancient poem which ran 
thus : 

"The snow of Kuraho is seen by raising the curtains." 

Lacking in Artistic Taste. 

Once when a certain kuge was traveling In a province, he came, on 
a moonlight night, to a poor village in which the cottage had fallen into 
picturesque decay, the roofs of which gleamed like silver. The sight 
of the glorified huts inspired him with such a fine frenzy that he sat up 
all night gazing rapturously on the scene, anon composing stanzas. 

He was so delighted that he planned to remain in the place several 
days. The next morning, however, the villagers, hearing of the pres- 
ence of so illustrious a guest among them, began busily to repair the ruin, 
and to rethatch the roofs. The kuge, seeing all his poetic visions dis- 
pelled by this vandal industry, ordered his bullock-car, and was off, dis- 
gusted. 



58 LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 

The Spoken and Written Language. 

During the first centuries of writing in Japan, the spoken and the 
written language were identical. With the study of the Chinese litera- 
ture, and the composition of works by the native literati almost exclu- 
sively in that language, grew up differences between the colloquial and 
literary idiom and terminology. The infusion of a large number of 
Chinese words into the common speech steadily increased; while the 
learned affected a pedantic style of conversation, so interlarded with 
Chinese names, words, and expressions, that to the vulgar their dis- 
course was almost unintelligible. 

Buddhism also made Chinese the vehicle of its teachings, and the 
people everywhere became familiar, not only with its technical terms, 
but with its stock phrases and forms of thought. To this day the Bud- 
dhist, or sham-religious, way of talking is almost a complete tongue in 
itself, and a good dictionary always gives a Buddhistic meaning of a 
word separately. 

Familiar Expressions. 

In reading or hearing Japanese, the English-speaking resident con- 
tinually stumbles on his own religious cant and orthodox expressions, 
which he believes to be peculiar to his own atmosphere, that have a 
meaning entirely different from the natural sense; "this vale of tears," 
"this evil world," "gone tO' his reward," "dust and ashes," "worm of the 
dust," and many phrases which so many think are exclusively Christian 
or evangelical, are echoed in Japanese. 

So much is this true, that the missionaries, in translating religious 
books, are at first delighted to find exact equivalents for many expres- 
sions desirable in technical theology, or for what may fairly be termed 
pious slang, but will not use them, for fear of misleading the reader, 
or rather of failing to lead him out of his old notions into the new faith 
which it is desired to teach. 

So general have the use and affectation of Chinese become, that in 
many instances the pedantic Chinese name or word has been retained 
in the mouths of the people, while the more beautiful native term is 



LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 59 

almost lost. In general, however, only the men were devoted to Chin- 
ese, while the cultivation of the Japanese language was left to the 
women. This task the women nobly discharged, fully maintaining the 
credit of the native literature. 

Most of the Poetry the Work of Women. 

Mr. W. G. Aston says, "I believe no parallel is to be found in the 
history of European letters, to the remarkable fact that a very large 
proportion of the best writings of the best age of Japanese literature 
was the work of women." The "Genji Monogatari" is the acknowledged 
standard of the language for the period to which it belongs, and the 
parent of the Japanese novel. This, with the classics, 'Tse Monogatari" 
and "Makura Zoshi," and much of the poetry of the time, are the works 
of women. It is to be noted that the borrowed Chinese words were 
taken entirely from the written, not the colloquial, language of China, 
the latter having never been spoken by the Japanese, except by a few 
interpreters at Nagasaki. The Japanese literary style is more concise, 
and retains archaic forms. 

As in the English speech, the child of the wedded Saxon and Norman, 
the words which express the wants, feelings and concerns of every-day 
life — all that is deepest in the human heart — are for the most part native ; 
the technical, scientific, and abstract terms are foreign. Hence, if we 
would find the fountains of the musical and beautiful language of Japan, 
we must seek them in the hearts, and hear them flow from the lips of the 
mothers of the Island Empire. 



CHAPTER IV. 
INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS 

Embassies from China — The Chinese Armada — Acts of Personal Bravery— Heroism of 
Michiari — The Whole Nation Aroused — The Wrath of Heaven — To the Victor Be- 
longs the Spoils — Evil Counsel — The Divinity of Kings — The Temporary Mikadoate. 

DURING the early centuries of the Christian era, friendly inter- 
course was regularly kept up between Japan and China. Em- 
bassies were dispatched to and fro on various missions, but chiefly with 
the mutual object of bearing the congratulations to an emperor upon 
his accession to the throne. It is mentioned in the "Gazetteer of Echi- 
zem" ("Echizen Koku Mei Seiki Ko") that Embassies from China, with 
a retinue and crew of one hundred and seventy-eight persons, came to 
Japan A. D. 776 to bear congratulations to the Mikado, Konin Tenno. 

Early Expeditions. 

The vessel was wrecked in a typhoon off the coast of Echizen, and 
but forty-six of the company were saved. They were fed and sheltered 
in Echizen. In A. D. 779, the Japanese Embassy, returning from China, 
landed at Mikuni, the sea-port of Fukui. 

In 883, orders were sent from Kioto to the provinces north of the 
capital to repair the bridges and roads, bury the dead bodies, and re- 
move all obstacles, because the envoys of China were coming that way. 
The civil disorders in both countries interrupted these friendly relations 
in the twelfth century, and communications ceased until they were re- 
newed again in the time of the Hojo, in the manner now to be described. 

In China, the Mongol Tartars had overthrown the Sung dynasty, and 
had conquered the adjacent countries. Through the Koreans, the Mon- 
gol Emperor, Kublai Khan, at whose court Marco Polo and his uncles 

60 



INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. 6i 

were then residing, sent, letters demanding tribute and homage from 
Japan. Chinese envoys came to Kamakura, but Hojo Tokimune, en- 
raged at the insolent demands, dismissed them in disgrace. Six embas- 
sies were sent, and six times rejected. 

Repulse of the Invaders. 

An expedition from China, consisting of ten thousand men, was sent 
against Japan. They landed at Tsushima and Iki. They were bravely 
attacked, and their commander slain. All Kiushiu having roused to 
arms, the expedition returned, having accomplished nothing. The 
Chinese Emperor now sent nine envoys, who announced their purpose 
to remain until a definite answer was returned to their master. 

They were called Kamakura, and the Japanese reply was given by 
cutting off their heads at the village of Tatsu no kuchi (Mouth of the 
Dragon), near the city. The Japanese now girded themselves for the 
war they knew was imminent. Troops from the East were sent to guard 
Kioto. Munitions of war were prepared, magazines stored, castles re- 
paired, and new armies levied and drilled. Boats and junks were built 
to meet the enemy on the sea. Once more Chinese Envoys came to 
demand tribute. Again the sword gave the answer, and their heads fell 
at Daizaifu, in Kiushiu, in 1279. 

Fighting Against Overpowering Odds. 

Meanwhile the Armada was preparing. Great China was coming to 
crush the little strip of land that refused homage to the invincible con- 
queror. The army numbered one hundred thousand Chinese and Tar- 
tars, and seven thousand Koreans, in ships that whitened the sea as the 
snowy herons whiten the islands of Lake Biwa. They numbered thirty- 
five hundred in all. In the Seventh month of the year 1281, the tassled 
prows and fluted sails of the Chinese junks greeted the straining eyes 
of watchers on the hills of Daizaifu. 

The Armada sailed gallantly up, and ranged itself off the castled 
city. Many of the junks were of immense proportions, larger than the 
natives of Japan had ever seen and armed with the engines of European 



6^ INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. 

warfare, which their Venetian guests had taught the Mongols to con- 
struct and work. The Japanese had small chance of success on the 
water; although their boats, being swifter and lighter, were more 
easily managed, yet many of them were sunk by the darts and huge 
stones hurled by the catapults mounted on their enemy's decks. In per- 
sonal prowess the natives of Nippon were superior. Swimming out to 
the fleet, a party of thirty boarded a junk, and cut off the heads of the 
crew; but another party attempting to do so, were all killed by the now 
wary Tartars. 

Hand to Hand Battles. 

One captain, Kusanojiro, with a picked crew, in broad daylight, 
sculled rapidly out to an outlying junk, and, in spite of a shower of darts, 
one of which took off his left arm, ran his boat alongside a Chinese junk, 
and, letting down the masts, boarded the decks, A hand-to-hand fight 
ensued, and, before the enemy's fleet could assist, the daring assailants 
set the ship on fire and were off, carrying away twenty-one heads. The 
fleet now ranged itself in a cordon, linking each vessel to the other 
with an iron chain. They hoped thus to foil the cutting-out parties. 

Besides the catapults, immense bow-guns shooting heavy darts were 
mounted on their decks, so as to sink all attacking boats. By these 
means many of the latter were destroyed, and more than one company 
of Japanese who expected victory lost their lives. Still, the enemy could 
not effect a landing in force. Their small detachments were cut off or 
driven into the sea as soon as they reached the shore, and over two 
thousand heads were among the trophies of the defenders in the skir- 
mishes. A line of fortifications many miles long, consisting of earth- 
works and heavy palisading planks, was now erected along-shore. Be- 
hind these the defenders watched the invaders, and challenged them to 
land. 

Fighting for Their Native Land. 

There was a Japanese captain, Michiari, who had long hoped for 
the invasion. He had prayed often to the gods that he might have op- 
portunity to fight the Mongols. He had written his prayers on paper, 



INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. 63 

and, burning them, had solemnly swallowed the ashes. He was now 
overjoyed at the prospect of a combat. Sallying out from behind the 
breastwork, he defied the enemy to fight. 

Shortly after, he filled two boats with brave fellows and pushed out, 
apparently unarmed, to the fleet. "He is mad," cried the spectators on 
the shore. "How bold," said the man on the fleet, "for two little boats 
to attack a thousand great ships ! Surely he is coming to surrender 
himself." Supposing this to be his object, they refrained from shooting. 

When within a few oars' lengths, the Japanese, flinging out ropes 
with grappling-hooks, leaped on the Tartar junk. The bows and spears 
of the latter were no match for the two-handled razor-like swords of the 
Japanese. The issue, though for a while doubtful, was a swift and com- 
plete victory for the men who were fighting for their native land. Burn- 
ing the junk, the surviving victors left before the surrounding ships 
could cut them off. Among the captured was one of the highest officers 
in the Mongol fleet. 

Petitions to the Gods. 

The whole nation was now aroused. Re-enforcements poured in 
from all quarters to swell the host of the defenders. From the monas- 
teries and temples all over the country went up unceasing prayer to the 
gods to ruin their enemies and save the land of Japan. The emperor 
went in solemn state to the chief priest of Shinto, and writing out his 
petitions to the gods, sent him as a messenger to the shrines of Ise. 

It is recorded, as a miraculous fact, that at the hour of noon, as the 
sacred envoy arrived at the shrine and offered the prayer — the day being 
perfectly clear — a streak of cloud appeared in the sky, which soon over- 
spread the heavens, until the dense masses portended a storm of awful 

violence. 

The Elements Favor the Japanese. 

One of those cyclones of appalling velocity and resistless force, such 
as whirl along the coasts of Japan and China during late summer and 
early fall of every year, burst upon the Chinese fleet. Nothing can 
withstand these maelstroms of the air. We call them typhoons; the 



64 INVASION OF TflE MONGOL TARTARS. 

Japanese say "tal-fu," or "okaze" (great wind). Iron steamships of 
thousands of horse-pov/er are almost unmanageable in them. 

Junks are helpless; the Chinese ships were these only. They were 
butted together like m.ad bulls. They were impaled on the rocks, dashed 
against the cliffs, or tossed on land like corks from the spray. They 
were blown over till they careened and filled. Heavily freighted with 
human beings, they sunk by hundreds. The corpses were piled on the 
shore or floating on the water so thickly that it seemed almost possible 
to walk thereon. Those driven out to sea may have reached the main- 
land, but were probably overwhelmed.. The vessels of the survivors, in 
large numbers, drifted or were wrecked upon Taka Island, where they 
established themselves, and cutting down trees, began building boats 
to reach Korea. 

Utter Destruction of the Chinese Army. 

Here they were attacked by the Japanese, and, after a bloody strug- 
gle, all the fiercer for the despair on the one side and the exultation on 
the other, were all slain or driven into the sea to be drowned, except 
three, who were sent back to tell their emperor how the gods of Japan 
had destroyed their armada. The Japanese exult in the boast that their 
gods and their heaven prevailed over the gods and heaven of the 
Chinese. 

This was the last time that China ever attempted to conquer Japan, 
whose people boast that their land has never been defiled by an invad- 
ing arm.y. They have ever ascribed the glory of the destruction of the 
Tartar fleet to the interposition of the gods of Ise, who thereafter re- 
ceived special and grateful adoration as the guardian of the seas and 
winds. Great credit and praise were given to the lord of Kamakura, 
Hojo Tomkimune, for his energy, ability and valor. The author of the 
Guai Shi says : "The repulse of the Tartar barbarians by Tokune, and 
his preserving the dominions of our Son of Heaven, were sufficient to 
atone for the crimes of his ancestors." 

Nearly six centuries afterward, when "the barbarian" Perry anchored 
his fleet in the Bay of Yedo, in the words of the native annalist, "Orders 



INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. 65 

were sent by the imperial court to the Shinto priests at Ise to offer up 
prayers for the sweeping away of the barbarians." MilHons of earnest 
hearts put up the same prayers as their fathers had offered, fully ex- 
pecting the same results. 

To this day the Japanese mother in Kiushiu hushes her fretful infant 
by the question, "Do you think the Mogu (Mongols) are coming?" This 
is the only serious attempt at invasion ever made by any nation upon the 
shores of Japan. 

Desire for a Supreme Ruler. 

The first step to be taken after the defeat of the Hojos and the 
overthrow of the military usurpation of Kamakura was to recall the 
Mikado Go-Daigo (1319-1336) from exile. With the sovereign again in 
full power, it seemed as though the ancient and rightful government 
was to be permanently restored. The military or dual system had lasted 
about one hundred and fifty years, and patriots now hoped to see the 
country rightly governed, without intervention between the throne and 
the people. 

The rewarding of the victors who had fought for him was the first 
duty awaiting the restored exile. The methods and procedure of feudal- 
ism were now so fixed in the general policy of the Government, that 
Go-Daigo, falling into the ways of the Minamoto and Hojo, apportioned 
military fiefs as guerdons to his vassals. Among them was Ashikaga 
Takauji, to whom was awarded the greatest prize, consisting of the 
rich provinces of Hitachi ; and to Nitta, Kodzuki and Harima, besides 
smaller fiefs to many others. 

The Ambition of Ashikaga. 

The unfair distribution of spoils astounded the patriots, who ex- 
pected to see the high rank and power conferred upon Nitta and 
Kusunoki, the chief leaders in the war for the restoration, and both very 
able men. 

It would have been well had the emperor seen the importance of 
disregarding the claims and privileges of caste, and exalted to highest 
rank the faithful men who were desirous of maintaining the dignity of 



66 INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. 

the throne, and whose fear was that the duarchy would again arise. 
Such a fear was by no means groundless, for Ashikoga, elated at such 
unexpected favor, became inflamed with a still higher ambition, and 
already meditated refounding the shogunate at Kamakura, and placing 
his own famih^ upon the military throne. 

Being of Minamoto stock, he knew that he had prestige and popu- 
larity in his favor, should he attempt the re-election of the shogunate. 
Most of the common soldiers had fought rather against Hojo than 
against duarchy. The emperor was warned against this man by his 
ministers; but in this case a woman's smiles and caresses and importu- 
nate words were more powerful than the advice of sages. Ashikaga had 
bribed the Mikado's concubine Kadoko and had so won her favor that 
she persuaded her imperial lord to bestow excessive and undeserved 
honor on the traitor. 

Discontent Prevails. 

The distribution of spoils excited discontent among the soldiers, who 
now began to lose all interest in the cause for which they had fought, 
and to murmur privately among themselves. "Should such an unjust 
government continue," said they, "then we are all servants of con- 
cubines and dancing-girls and singing-boys. Rather than be the puppets 
of the Mikado's amusers, we would prefer a shogun again, and become 
his vassals." 

Many of the captains and smaller clan-leaders were also in bad 
humor over their own small shares. Ashikaga Takauji took advantage 
of this feeling to make himself popular among the disaffected, especially, 
those who cling to arms as a profession and wish to remain soldiers, pre- 
ferring war to peace. Of such inflammable material the latent traitor 
was not slow to avail himself when it suited him to light the flames of 
war. 

Had the Mikado listened to his wise counsellor, and also placed 
Kusunoki in an office commensurate with his commanding abilities, and 
regarded Nitta as he deserved, the century of anarchy and bloodshed 
which followed might have been spared to Japan. 



INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS.' 67 

Sampson and Delilah. 

Go-Daigo, who in the early years of his former reign had been a 
man of indomitable courage and energy, seems to have lost the best 
traits of his character in his exile, retaining only his imperious will and 
susceptibility to flattery. To this degenerate Sampson a Delilah was not 
wanting. He fell an easy victim to the wiles of one man, though the 
shears by which his strength was shorn were held by a woman. 

Ashikaga was a consummate master of the arts of adulation and po- 
litical craft. He was now to further prove his skill, and to verify the 
warnings of Nitta and the ministers. The emperor made Moriyoshi, his 
own son, shogun. Ashikaga, jealous of the appointment, and having 
too ready access to the infatuated father's ear,' told him that his son 
was plotting to get possession of the throne. Moriyoshi, hating the 
flatterer, and stung to rage by the base slander, marched against him. 

Ashikaga now succeeded by means of his ally in the imperial bed 
in making himself, in the eyes of the Mikado, the first victim to the 
conspiracies of the prince. So great was his power over the emperor 
that he obtained from the imperial hand a decree to punish his enemy 
Moriyoshi as a "choteki," or rebel, against the Mikado. 

The Emperor AU-Powerful. 

Here we have a striking instance of what, in the game of Japanese 
stat^-craft may be called the checkmate move, or, in the native idiom, 
"Ote," "king's hand." It is difficult for a foreigner to fully appreciate 
the prestige attaching to the Mikado's person — a prestige never dimin- 
ishing. No matter how low his actual measure of power, the meanness 
of his character, or the insignificance of his personal abilities, he was 
the Son of Heaven, his word was law, his commands omnipotent. 

He was the fountain of all rank and authority. No military leader, 
however great his resources or ability, could win the popular heart or 
hope for ultimate success unless appointed by the emperor. He who 
held the Son of Heaven in his power was his master. Hence it was the 
constant aim of all the military leaders, even down to 1868, to obtain 
control of the imperial person. 



68 INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. 

However wicked or villainous the keeper of the Mikado, he was 
master of the situation. His enemies were choteki against the Son of 
Heaven; his own soldiers were the ''kuan-gun," or royal army. Even 
might could not make right. Possession of the divine person was more 
than nine-tenths — it was the whole — of the law. 

Murder of the King's Son. 

Moriyoshi, then, being choteki., was doomed. Ashikaga, having the 
imperial order, had the kuan-gun, and was destined to win. The sad 
fate of the emperor's son awakens feelings, and brings tears to the eyes 
of the Japanese reader even to the present day. He was seized, deposed, 
sent to Kamakura, and murdered in a subterranean dungeon in the 
seventh month of the year 1335. 

His child in exile, the heart of the emperor relented. The scales 
fell from his eyes. He saw that he had wrongly suspected his son, and 
that the real traitor was Ashikaga. The latter, noticing the change 
that had come over his master, left Kioto secretly, followed by thou- 
sands of the disaffected soldiery, and fled to Kamakura, which he had 
rebuilt, and began to consolidate his forces with a view of again erect- 
ing the eastern capital, and seizing the power formerly held by the 
Ho jo. 

Nitta had also been accused by Ashikaga, but having cleared himself 
in a petition to the mikado, he received the imperial commission to 
chastise his rival. In the campaign which followed, the imperial forces 
were so hopelessly defeated that the quandam imperial exile now became 
a fugitive. With his loyal followers he left Kioto, carrying with him the 
sacred emblems of authority. 

Allegiance of the People Divided. 

Ashikaga, though a triumphant victor, occupied a critical position. 
He was a choteki. As such he could never win success. He had power 
and resources, but, unlike others equally usurpers, was not clothed with 
authority. He was, in popular estimation, a rebel of the deepest dye. 
In such a predicament he could not safely remain a day. The people 
would take the side of the emperor. 



INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. 69 

What should he do? His vigor, astuteness and villainy were equal. 
The Hojo had deposed and set up emperors. It was Ashikaga who 
divided the allegiance of the people, gave Japan a "War of the Roses" 
(or Chrysanthemums), tilled the soil of feudalism and lighted the 
flames of war that made Kioto a cock-pit, abandoned the land for nearly 
two centuries and a half to slaughter, ignorance, and paralysis of 
national progress. 

To clothe his acts with right, he made a new Son of Heaven. He 
declared Kogen, who was of the royal family, emperor. In 1336, this 
new Son of Heaven gave Ashikaga the title of Sei-i Tai Shogun. 
Kamakura again became the military capital. The duarchy was re- 
stored, and the War of the Northern and Southern Dynasties began, 
which lasted fifty-six years. 

The Temporary Mikadoate. 

The period of 1333-1336, though including little more than two years 
of time, is of great significance as marking the existence of a temporary 
mikadoate. The fact that it lasted so short a time, and that the duarchy 
was again set up on its ruins, has furnished both natives and foreigners 
with the absurd and specious, but strongly urged argument that the 
Government of Japan, by a single ruler from a single centre, is an 
impossibility, and that the creation of a dual system with a "spiritual" 
or nominal sovereign in one part of the empire, and a military or 
"secular" ruler in another, is a necessity. 

During the agitation of the question concerning the abolition of the 
dual system, and the restoration of the mikado in 1860-1868, one of the 
chief arguments of the adherents of the shogunate against the scheme of 
the agitators was the assertion that the events of the period 1333-1336 
proved that the mikado could not alone govern the country, and that 
it must have duarchy. 

Even after the overthrow of the shogun Keiki, known as the 
"Tycoon," in 1868, foreigners, as well as natives, who had studied Jap- 
anese history, fully believed and expected that in a year or two the 
present mikado's Government would be overthrown and the "Tycoon" 



fo INVASION OF THE MONGOL TARTARS. 

return to power, basing their belief on the fact that the mikadoate of 
1333-1336 did not last. 

Whatever force such an argument might have had when Japan nad' 
no foreign relations, and no aliens on her soil to disturb the balance 
between Kioto and Karaakura, it is certain that it counts for naught 
Vv'hen, under altered conditions, more than the .united form of the whole 
empire is now required to cope with the political pressure from without. 



CHAPTER V. 
THE WAR OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS 

Divine Origin of tlie Mikado — Violent Hands Never Laid Upon the Emperor's Person — 
Two Mikados — The North Against the South — National Heroes — Kusunoki, the Brave 
— Lust for Land and War — The Succession Settled — Complete List of Mikados. 

THE dynasty of the imperial rulers is the oldest in the world. No 
other family line extends so far back into the remote ages as the 
nameless family of mikados. Disdaining to have a family name, claim- 
ing descent, not from mortals, but from the heavenly gods, the imperial 
house of the Kingdom of the Rising Sun occupies a throne which no 
plebian has ever attempted to usurp. 

Throughout all the vicissitudes of the imperial line, in plentitude of 
power or abasement of poverty, its members deposed or set up at the 
pleasure of the upstart or political robber, the throne itself has remained 
unshaken. Unclean hands have not been laid upon the ark itself. As in 
the procession of life on the globe the individual perishes, the species 
lives on, so, though individual mikados have been dethroned, insulted 
or exiled, the prestige of the line has never swerved. 

Enshrined in the Hearts of His Countrymen. 

The soldier who would begin revolution, or who lusted for power, 
would make the mikado his tool; but, however transcendent his genius 
and abilities, he never attempted to write himself mikado. No Japanese 
Caesar ever had his Brutus, nor Charles his Cromwell, nor George his 
Washington. 

Not even, as in China, did one dynasty of alien blood overthrow an- 
other, and reign in the stead of a destroyed family. Such events are 
unknown in Japanese annals. The stujdent of his people, and their 

71 



y2 WAR OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 

unique history can never understand them or their national Hfe unless 
he measures the mightiness of the force, and recognizes the place of the 
throne and the mikado in the minds and hearts of the people. 

The Japanese Wars of the Roses. 

There are on record instances in which the true heirship was de- 
clared only after bitter intrigue, quarrels, or even bloodshed. In the 
tenth century, Taira no Masakado disappointed in not being appointed 
Dai Jo Dai Jin, left Kioto, went to Shimosa in the Kuanto, and set him- 
self up as Shinno, or cadet of the imperial line, and temporarily ruled 
the eight provinces of the East as a pseudo-mikado. 

In 1 139, the military families of Taira and Minamoto came to blows 
in Kioto over the question of succession between the rival heirs, Shutoku 
and Go-Shirakawa. The Taira being victors, their candidate became 
mikado. During the decay of the Taira, they fled from Kioto, carrying 
with them, as true emperor, with his suite and the sacred insignia, An- 
toku, the child, five years old, who was drowned in the sea when the 
Taira were destroyed. The Minamoto at the same time recognized 
Gotoba. 

It may be more analogical to call the wars of the Gen and Hei, with 
their white and red flags, the Japanese Wars of the Roses. Theirs was 
the struggle of rival houses. Now, we are to speak of rival dynasties, 
each with the imperial chrysanthemum. 

Two Mikados in the Field. 

In the time of the early Ashikagas (1336-1390) there were two 
mikados ruling, or attempting to rule, in Japan. The Emperor Go.- 
Daigo had chosen his son Kuniyoshi as his heir, but the latter died in 
1326. Kogen, son of the mikado Go-Fushimi (1299-1301), was then 
made heir. Go-Daigo's third son, Moryoshi, however, as he grew up, 
showed great talent, and his father regretted that he had consented to 
the choice of Kogen, and wished his own son to succeed him. 

He referred the matter to Hojo at Kamakura, who disapproved of 
the plan. Those who hated Hojo called Kogen the "false emperor," re- 



WAR OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 73 

fusing to acknowledge him. When Nitta destroyed Kamakura, and 
Go-Daigo was restored, Kogen retired to obscurity. No one for a mo- 
ment thought of or acknowledged any one but Go-Daigo as true and 
only mikado. When, however, Ashikaga, by his treachery, had alienated 
the emperor from him, and was without imperial favor, and liable to 
punishment as a rebel, he found out and set up Kogen as mikado, and 
proclaimed him sovereign. Civil war then broke out. 

A Story of Bloodshed and Treachery. 

Into the details of the war between the adherents of the Northern 
emperor, Ashikaga, with his followers, on the one side, and Go-Daigo, 
who held the insignia of authority, backed by a brilliant array of names 
famous among the Japanese, on the other, I do not propose to enter. It 
is a confused and sickening story of loyalty and treachery, battle, mur- 
der, pillage, fire, famine, poverty, and misery, such as make up the pic- 
ture of civil wars in every country. Occasionally in this period a noble 
deed or typical character shines forth for the admiration or example 
of succeeding generations. Among these none have exhibited more 
nobly man's possible greatness in the hour of death than Nitta Yoshi- 
sada and Kusunoki Masashige. 

Heroism of Nitta. 

On one occasion the army of Nitta, who was fighting under the flag 
of Go-Daigo, the true emperor, was encamped before that of Ashikaga. 
To save further slaughter, Nitta sallied out alone, and, approaching his 
enemy's camp, cried out : "The war in the country continues long. Al- 
though this has arisen from the rivalry of two emperors, yet its issue 
depends solely upon you and me. Rather than millions of the people 
should be involved in distress, let us determine the question by single 
combat." 

The retainers of Ashikaka prevailed on their commander not to 
accept the challenge. In 1338, on the second day of the Seventh month, 
while marching with about fifty followers to assist in investing a fortress 
in Echizen, he was suddenly attacked in a narrow path in a rice-field 



74 WAR OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 

near Fukui by about three thousand of the enemy, and exposed without 
shields to a shower of arrows. Some one begged Nitta, as he was 
mounted, to escape. 

''It is not my desire to survive my companions slain," was his re- 
sponse. Whipping up his horse, he rode forward to engage with his 
sword, making himself the target for a hundred archers. His horse, 
struck when at full speed by an arrow, fell. Nitta, on clearing himself 
and rising, was hit between the eyes with a white-feathered shaft, and 
mortally wounded. Drawing his sword, he cut off his own head — a feat 
which the warriors of that time were trained to perform — so that his 
enemies might not recognize him. 

Death Rather Than Dishonor. 

He was thirty-eight years old. His brave little band were slain by 
arrows, or killed themselves with their own hand, that they might die 
with their master. The enemy could not recognize Nitta, until they 
found, beneath a pile of corpses of men who had committed hara-kiri, a 
body on which, inclosed in a damask bag, was a letter containing the 
imperial commission in Go-Daigo's handwriting, *T invest you with all 
power to subjugate the rebels." 

Then they knew the corpse to be that of Nitta. His head was carried 
to Kioto, then in possession of Ashikaka, and exposed in public on a 
pillory. The tomb of this brave man stands, carefully watched and 
tended, near Fukui, in Echizen, hard by the very spot where he fell. A 
shrine and monument were erected in his native place during the year 

1875- 

The Story of Kusunoki. 

The brave Kusunoki, after a lost battle at Minatogawa, near Hiogo, 
having suffered continual defeat, his counsels having been set at naught, 
and his advice rejected, felt that life was no longer honorable, and 
solemnly resolved to die in unsullied reputation and with a soldier's 
honor. Sorrowfully bidding his wife and infant children good-bye, he 
calmly committed hara-kiri, an example which his comrades, number- 
ing one hundred and fifty, bravely followed. 



WAR OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 75 

Kusunoki Masashige was one of an honorable family who dwelt in 
Kawachi, and traced their descent to the great-grandson of the thirty- 
second mikado, Bidatsu (A. D. 572-585). The family name, Kusunoki 
("Camphor"), was given his people from the fact that a grove of cam- 
phor-trees adorned the ancestral gardens of the mansion. The twelfth 
in descent was the Vice-governor of lyo. The father of Masashige held 
land possessed at two thousand "koku." His mother, desiring a child, 
prayed to the god Bishamon for one hundred days, and Masashige was 
born after a pregnancy of fourteen months. 

The mother, in devout gratitude, named the boy Tamon (the Sans- 
krit name of Bishamon), after the god who had heard her prayers. The 
man-child was very strong, and at seven could throw boys of fifteen at 
wrestling. He received his education in the Chinese classics from the 
priests in the temple, and exercised himself in all manly and warlike arts. 
In his twelfth year he cut off the head of an enemy, and at fifteen studied 
the Chinese military art, and made it the solemn purpose of his life to 
overthrow the Kamakura usurpation, and restore the mikado to his 
power. 

A Lost Opportunity. 

In 1830, he took up arms for Go-Daigo. He was several times be- 
sieged by the Hojo armies, but was finally victorious with Nitta and 
Ashikaga. When the latter became a rebel, defeated Nitta, and entered 
Kioto in force, Kusunoki joined Nitta, and thrice drove out the troops 
of Ashikaga from the capital. The latter then fled to the West, and 
Kusunoki advised the imperialist generals to follow them up and annihi- 
late the rebellion. His superiors, with criminal levity, neglecting to do 
this, the rebels collected together, and again advanced, with increased 
strength by land and water, against Kioto, having, it is said, two hun- 
dred thousand men. 

Kusunoki's plan of operations was rejected, and his advice ignored. 
AVith Nitta he was compelled to bear the brunt of battle against over- 
whelming forces at Minato gawa, near Hiogo, and was there hopelessly 
defeated. Kusunoki, now feeling that he had done all that was possible 



76 WAR OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 

to a subordinate, and that life was no longer honorable, retired to a 
farmer's house at the village of Sakurai, and there, giving him the sword 
bestowed on himself by the mikado, admonished his son Masatsura to 
follow the soldier's calling, cherish his father's memory, and avenge his 
father's death. Sixteen of his relatives, with unquailing courage, like- 
wise followed their master in death. 

A Patriot of the Highest Type. 

Of all the characters in Japanese history, that of Kusunoki Masa- 
shige stands pre-eminent for pureness of patriotism, imselfishness of de- 
votion to duty, and calmness of courage. The people speak of him in 
tones of reverential tenderness, and, with an admiration that lacks fitting 
words, behold in him the mirror of stainless loyalty. Every relic of this 
brave man is treasured up with religious care ; and fans inscribed with 
poems written by him, in fac-simile of his handwriting, are sold in the 
shops and used by those who burn to imitate his exalted patriotism. 
His son Masatsura lived to become a gallant soldier. 

The war, which at first was waged with the clearly defined object 
of settling the question of the supremacy of the rival mikados, gradually 
lost its true character, and finally degenerated into a free fight on a 
national scale. Before peace was finally declared, all the original leaders 
had died, and the prim.e object had been, in a great measure, forgotten 
in the lust for land and war. Even the rival emperors lost much of 
their interest, as they had no concern in brawls by which petty chieftains 
sought to exalt their own name, and increase their territory by robbing 
their neighbors. 

Abdication and Coronation. 

In 1392, an envoy from Ashikaga persuaded Go-Kameyama to come 
to Kioto and hand over the regalia to Go-Komatsu, the Northern em- 
peror. The basis of peace was that Go-Kameyana should receive the 
title of Dai Jo Tenno (ex-emperor), Go-Komatsu be declared emperor, 
and the throne be occupied alternately by the rival branches of the im- 
perial family. 



WAR OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



77 



The ceremony of abdication of surrender of regalia, on the one hand, 
and of investiture, on the other, were celebrated with due pomp and 
solemnity in one of the great temples in the capital, and the war of 
fifty-six years' duration ceased. All this redounded to the glory and 
power of Ashikaga. 

The period of 1336-1392 is of great interest in the eyes of all native 
students of Japanese history. In the Dai Nihon Shi, the Southern dy- 
nasty are defended as the legitimiate sovereigns, and the true descendants 
of Ten Sho Dai Jin, the sun-goddess ; and the Northern dynasty are 
condemned as mere usurpers. 

The same view was taken by Kitabatake Chikafusa, who was the 
author of the Japanese Red Book, who warned the emperor Go-Daigo 
against Ashikaga, and in 1339 wrote a book to prove that Go-Daigo was 
mikado, and the Ashikaga's nominee a usurper. This is the view now 
held in modern Japan, and only those historians of the period who award 
legitimacy to the Southern dynasty are considered authoritative. The 
Northern branch of the imperial family after a few generations became 
extinct. 

The Mikados of Japan. 



Jimmu Emperor 660 B. C. 

Suisei Emperor 581 B. C. 

Annei Emperor 548 B. C. 

Itoku Emperor 510 B. C. 

Koshio Emperor 475 B. C. 

Koan Emperor 392 B. C. 

Korei Emperor 290 B. C. 

Kogen Emperor 214 B. C. 

Kaikua Emperor 157 B. C. 

Sujin Emperor 97 B. C. 

Suinin Emperor 29 B. C. 

Keiko Emperor 71 A. D. 

Seimu Emperor 131 A. D. 

Chuai Emperor 192 A. D. 

Jingu-Kogo Empress 201 A. D. 

Ojin Emperor 270 A. D. 

Nintoku Emperor 313 A. D. 

Richiu Emperor 400 A. D. 

Hansho Emperor 405 A. D. 

Inkyo Emperor 411 A. D. 



Anko Emperor 

Yuriaku Emperor 

Seinei Emperor 

Kenso Emperor 

Ninken Emperor 

Buretsu Emperor 

Ketai Emperor 

Ankan Emperor 

Senkuwa Emperor 

Kimmei-Tenno Emperor 

Bitatsu-Tenno Emperor 

Yomei Emperor 

Sushun Emperor 

Suiko-Tenno Empress 

Yomei Emperor 

Kokioku Empress 

Kotoku Emperor 

Saimei, the name assumed by ex- 
Empress I^kioku when she 
resumed the crown 



453 A. D. 
456 A. D. 
480 A. D. 
48s A. D. 
488 A. D. 
499 A. D. 
507 A. D. 
534 A. D. 
536 A. D. 
540 A. D. 
572 A. D. 
586 A. D. 
588 A. D. 
503 A. D. 
629 A. D. 
642 A. D. 
645 A. D. 



655 A. D. 



78 



WAR OF THE CHRYSANTHEMUMS. 



Tenji Emperor 668 A. D. 

Kobun Emperor 572 A. D. 

Temmu Emperor 673 A. D. 

Jito-Tenno Empress 690 A. D. 

Mommu Emperor 697 A. D. 

Gemmei Empress 708 A. D. 

Gensho Empress 715 A. D. 

Shomu Emperor 724 A. D. 

Koken Empress 749 A. D. 

Jungin-Tenno Emperor 759 A. D. 

Ex-Empress resumed throne as 
Koken-Shotoku 765 A. D. 

Konin, grandson of Tenji, Em- 
peror 770 A. D. 

Kuwammu Emperor 782 A. D. 

Heizei Emperor 806 A. D. 

Saga Emperor 810 A. D. 

Junna Emperor 824 A. D. 

Nimmio Emperor 834 A. D. 

Montoku Emperor 851 A. D. 

Seiwa Emperor 859 A. D. 

Yozei Emperor 877 A. D. 

Koko Emperor 885 A. D. 

Uda Emperor 893 A. D. 

D'aigo Emperor 898 A. D. 

Shujaku Emperor 931 A. D. 

Murakami Emperor 947 A. D. 

Reizei Emperor 968 A. D. 

Enyu Emperor 970 A. D. 

Kuwazan Emperor 985 A. D. 

Ichijo Emperor 987 A. D. 

Sanjo Emperor 1012 A. D. 

Go-Ichijo Em.peror 1017 A. D. 

Go-Shujaku Emperor 1038 A. D. 

Go-Reizei Emperor 1046 A. D. 

Go- Sanjo Emperor 1069 A. D. 

Shirakav/a Emperor 1073 A. D. 

Horikawa Emperor 1087 A. D. 

Toba Emperor 1108 A. D. 

Sliutoku Emperor 1124 A. D. 

Konoye Emperor 1142 A. D. 

Go-Shiraka\va Emperor 1156 A. D. 

Nijo Emperor 1159 A. D. 

Rokujio Emperor 1166 A. D. 

Takakura Emperor 1 169 A. D. 



Antoku Emperor 

Go-Toba Emperor 

Tsuchi-Mikado Emperor 

Juntoku Emperor 

Chukio Emperor 

Go-Horikawa Emperor 

Shijo Emperor 

Go-Saga Emperor 

Go-Fukakusa Emperor 

Kame-Yama Emperor 

Go-Uda Emperor 

Fushimi Emperor 

Go-Fushimi Emperor 

Go-Nijo Emperor 

Hanazono Emperor 

Go-Daigo Emperor 

Komio Tenno Emperor 

Go-Murakami Tenno.. .Emperor 

Shuko Emperor 

Go-Kuwoogon Emperor 

Go-Kame-Yama Emperor 

Go-Enyu Emperor 

Go-Komatsu Emperor 

Shoko Emperor 

Go-Hanazono Emperor 

Go-Tsuchi-Mikado. . . Emperor 

Go-Kashiwabara Emperor 

Go-Nara Emperor 

Oki Machi Emperor 

Go-Yozei-Tenno .... Emperor 

Go-Miwa Emperor 

Miosho Empress 

Go-Komio Emperor 

Gozai-in Emperor 

Reizen Emperor 

Higashiyama Emperor 

Naka-Mikado Emperor 

Sakura-Machi Emperor 

Momozono Emperor 

Go-Sakura Machi. . . . Empress 

Go-Momozono Emperor 

Kokaku Emperor 

Niako Emperor 

Komei Emperor 

Mutsuhito Emperor 



181 A.D. 
186 A. D. 
199 A. D. 
:2ii A. D. 
221 A. D. 
221 A. D. 
:23i A. D. 
244 A. D. 
247 A. D. 
:266 A. D. 
270 A. D. 

A. D. 
:299 A. D". 
:30i A. D. 
308 A. D. 
319 A. D. 
■336 A. D. 
339 A. D. 
:349 A. D. 
352 A.D. 
368 A. D. 
:372 A. D. 
393 A. D. 
:4i3 A. D. 
429 A. D. 
•46s A. D. 
SOI A. D. 
■527 A. D. 
SS8 A. D. 
587 A. D. 
612 A. D 
630 A. D'. 
644 A. D. 
655 A. D. 
663 A. D. 
687 A. D. 
ID A. D. 
736 A. D. 
747 A. D. 
763 A. D. 

A.D. 

A.D. 

A.D. 

A.D. 

A.D. 



771 
780 
:8i7 
:847 



:867 



CHAPTER VI. 
RISE AS A MODERN POWER 

The Climate and Flora of Japan — The Fuji-San — Origin of the Japanese Eace — The 
"Feathered Men" — Peculiarities of the Japanese Language — Energetic Japanese 
Empresses — The Avolition of Christianity — The Ancient Authority of the Mikado 
Triumphs. 

ENTWINED in the limpid arms of the great Pacific Ocean Hes a 
clustering chain of over three thousand islands, called by its an- 
cient inhabitants — from its fancied' resemblance to a dragon-fly — "Siet- 
Eish-Ieu," — the "Dragon-Fly Land." x\lso, owing to its position in 
the extreme East, it has been named "Dai Nippon," or "Birthplace of 
the Sun." 

Fair As the Garden o£ the Lord. 

This ocean home of the rising sun, is one of the most beautiful spots 
on our globe, with its endless line of foam-fringed coast, its rich plains 
and fertile valleys, its green hill slopes and forest-clad mountains tower- 
ing one above the other in grandeur, and its picturesque harbors, safe 
and lovely. It has a cold, crisp, bracing climate in winter, with not too 
fervid a sun in summer. It has a magnificent flora of over one hundred 
and fifty evergreens alone, and no end of rare deciduous trees — the 
camphor, the wax, the violet-scented paulownia, the pomegranate, the 
cotton, and wax tree, the magnolia, the chestnut, maple, pear, cherry, 
plum, peach, apple, myrtle, orange, with an endless variety of flow- 
ers — camelias, lilies, roses, side by side with the azalea and the mikado's 
armorial flower, the chrysanthemum. The glory of autumn foliage is 
unrivalled except by that of North America, / 

But of all beautiful objects of nature in Japan the most famous is the 
volcanic mountain, Fuji-san, or "Heaven Seeker," often written Fuji- 

79 



So RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 

yama. Daily the imaginative children of the great Nippon gaze toward 
this most sacred object. Its snow-crowned peak towering in solitary 
grandeur guides thousands of devout pilgrims. The devotee climbs its 
volcanic sides, toiling and fasting and praying, and resting anon at each 
of the lava huts. When he has reached its awful summit he spends the 
night at a lava temple, where he abjures the past, and makes promise 
of a better future. Before dawn, bathed, clothed in pure white, he sa- 
lutes the rising sun with a hymn of praise. He then performs the circuit 
of the lofty Fuji-san, gazes with awe on the mouth of its crater, over 
five hundred feet deep, shaped like an eight-petaled lotus flower! 

Celebrated In Picture and Story. 

Etherealized by the beautiful story that the lofty Fuji-san burnt its 
great heart until it took on the shape of a lotus-flower — the sacred sym- 
bol of the Buddhist religion and which blooms for every true Buddhist 
a divine meaning — it is held to be a conscious being, looking down with 
love and pity upon humanity toiling at its feet. Fuji-san is celebrated 
by Japanese poets and artists, in song and hymn, in legends and pic- 
tured story, in glowing colors and golden outlines on pots, and pans, 
trays, vases, urns, incense-burners, panels, cabinets, and stately mauso- 
leums. 

Ranking next to Fuji-san is the Biwa or "Lute-shaped Lake," said 
to be the twin sister of the Fuji-san, both miraculously produced by the 
same earthquake. 

Who Are the Japanese ? 

This land, the great Dai Nippon — corrupted into Japan — is inhabited 
by the sunniest people on our planet. Their manners, customs, amuse- 
ments, language, religion, history, poetry, art, fiction all give us pictures 
of a nation simple, joyous, imaginative, artistic, and neither too labori- 
ous, nor too superstitiously religious. 

But when we inquire who are they, when come they, what at- 
tracted them to these sunny isles, when settled they there, and how 
are they related to us and to the rest of our Asiatic Cousins — then we 
find ourselves groping in the dark. 



RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 8i 

To judge from their mental and physical characteristics, the Japanese 
seem allied to several distinct races. The Mongolian type is everywhere 
prevalent; the oblique eyes are common among the aristocracy, who 
indeed are of pure Mongolian descent; this form of eye is held as a dis- 
tinguishing mark of beauty. Nevertheless there are faces among them 
strictly Semitic; and there are others of the Aryan type. 

Wholly Different From the Chinese. 

As to customs they have little in common with the Chinese. They 
do not dwarf the feet of their girls. The "pigtail" is not preserved — on 
the contrary a lock of hair is often worn in front; a shipwrecked sailor 
escaping death invariably lays his front lock as an offering on the altar 
of the sun goddess Ise. The peculiar gait of the Chinese is never seen ; 
the dull air is replaced by a brisk, off-hand manner. In fact the Japanese 
is unlike the typical Asiatic who is sober, sedate and reflective. He is 
far less conservative than the Chinese, more influenced by new ideas, 
and has little or no dread of change. He is, in truth, an Asiatic Yankee. 

In view of these peculiarities and in the absence of fuller scientific 
research, we conclude that the Japanese, though chiefly of Turanian 
stock, are not without some large mixture of Aryan blood; that in their 
formation as a people they have assimilated some of the finer qualities 
of both the Turanian and Aryan branches of the human family; and also 
that they are undoubtedly allied to a very curious and ancient people 
called Ainos, a race of prehistoric times, which is rapidly disappearing 
before Japanese civilization. 

A Peculiar Race. 

When the Japanese took possession of the beautiful dragon-fly shaped 
land is a matter of uncertainty. Search their annals, consider their 
legends and traditions, question their archives and historical books — 
all we can discover is that from time immemorial there were strange 
spectres, the "Khon Bal Yai," or "Feathered Men" — which name was 
given them by the Mongolian invaders, because of the long, soft hair 
with which their bodies are covered — and that these were the ancient 
people called Ainos. But how and when the Ainos themselves obtained 



82 RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 

a footing on the Dragon-Fly Land, is a subject of deep mystery to the 
ethnologist. 

All we know is that the Ainos, or "hairy Kuriles," as they are some- 
times called (now mostly to be found in the island of Yesso), once oc- 
cupied the greater part of the country; and that they were driven north 
by adventurous races coming from the southwest. They are small, 
well-proportioned, strongly-built, of an Aryan type of countenance, and 
of a singularly kind and gentle disposition. Their women, however, ren- 
der themselves hideous by tattooing their hairy bodies with grotesque 
figures, and letting the hair of their heads fall over their shoulders to their 
knees. The winter dress of both sexes consists of robes of wild beast 
skin; in summer of cotton tunics reaching to the knee, with a leathern 
girdle. 

Habits and Customs of the Ainos. 

They now live in communities of fifteen or twenty families, under 
a patriarchal chief. Their huts are of mud, thatched with dried leaves, 
straw, or branches of trees plaited together. Their manners are bright 
and cheerful at home, and extremely courteous when abroad ; they salute 
one another by bowing to the ground. Their judicial cases are presided 
over by the chiefs of adjoining villages; and law is administered with 
something of the quiet dignity of a religious ceremony. 

Although they obtain from the Japanese rice, tea, sugar, and many 
other necessities, by bartering furs and skins, still the sounds of some 
few industries may be heard in their villages : the thumping of the cloth- 
m^aker, the song of the cord-twister and the net-maker; the elder women 
turn the soft tree-wool into thread wherewith to spin their garments, 
the younger women rock their children to sleep to the v/ildest and most 
plaintive airs ever tuned by a savage tribe. The young men are hunters, 
trappers and fishermen. 

When evening draws on the Aino villages resound to the drum, bag- 
pipe and flute, a bonfire crackles and flames on the village common, an 
itinerant trader, or Shinto priest with his wondrous tales of the sun 
goddess or demons, and heroes, or perchance a more civilized Buddhist 



RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 83 

missionary, is hospitably regaled with the best the village affords; the 
Ainos boys and girls, shy as wild deer, will by degrees cluster around 
the one or the other, examine the peddler's wares, listen to the stories 
of Ise, the sun goddess, or sit drinking in the tale of the good Buddha 
which never fails to move to love the most savage of human hearts. 

Early Settlements. 

About 290 B. C. settlements were founded on the main islands of 
Japan by Mongols. They drove north large numbers of the Ainos, and 
absorbed the more peaceable into their own population. This invasion 
was succeeded by formidable ingressions of the "black savages" of 
Japanese history; probably Malay tribes from Papua, New Guinea, or 
Dyacks from Borneo and the adjoining lands. It would seem that these 
various tribes established colonies and, intermarrying with the Ainos and 
Mongol invaders, became the progenitors of the present Japanese. 

Origin of the Language. 

The language of the Japanese has been a source of equal perplexity 
to the philologist. He is at a loss to understand certain marks of origi- 
nality and isolation exhibited by this form of speech. It shows traces of 
an early Aryan influence, but such as rather to deepen than to clear 
up the mystery. One thing is clear — that if the structure of the Japanese 
language was fundamentally Aryan, the separation from the parent 
tongue must have taken place at an early period, when the Aryan 
branch of the human speech was still in its infancy. 

The language is extremely melodious in sound, and vigorous In ex- 
pression. It is agglutinative — that is, it preserves its roots in their simple 
form. In fact the peculiarities of the ancient Japanese tongue are so 
many that it is difficult to establish its true relationship to the other 
languages of the world. It has been enriched since A. D. 255 by the 
adoption of Chinese words, symbols, and written characters, much in 
the same way as the English is constantly being added to by the bor- 
rowing of Latin and Greek words for literary and scientific purposes. 



84 RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 

Style of Printing and Writing. 

Though the written language of the Japanese is exceedingly pure 
and classical, it is difficult to read, owing to a complex style. of writing 
and printing. There are in use two styles of writing; the one called the 
square character — borrowed from the Chinese — is employed in literary 
manuscripts, official documents, and state papers; the other — the run- 
ning or short hand — is used for all ordinary purposes ; its lines run per- 
pendicularly and are read downwards, beginning with the column to the 
right of the reader. Thus a Japanese book begins where our books end. 

The language shows one striking affinity with that of the Turanian 
family — it possesses a complete dictionary of fine-sounding and extrava- 
gantly laudatory terms, appropriate to only royal and noble persons, 
and held too sacred for the use of ordinary people. The language is 
s,poken with greater purity by the Japanese women than by the men. 
All that we know as yet, with regard to the language of the Ainos, or 
aboriginals, is, that this ancient tongue is not now understood by the 
Japanese. 

History Repeats Itself. 

The more we study the varied annals of India, Persia, Phoenicia, 
Egypt, Palestine, Arabia, China, Thibet, Korea, Japan, the more are we 
struck with the truth of that old saying: "History repeats itself." The 
same causes produced the same results in Japan as in other parts of 
Asia and Europe. 

The Japanese do not, like the Chinese, trace their origin to a Dar- 
winian idea of evolution. Like the Hindoos, Persians, and Jews, they 
claim to have been created by a Supreme Being; to be the offspring 
of two celestial persons, Izanagi and Izanami. The emperors pretend 
to a direct descent from the beautiful sun-goddesses Amaterasu and Ise. 
The sacred histories of Japan, ignoring the fact that the Ainos were the 
aboriginal population of Japan, relate with much detail that about 660 
B. C. Jimmu Tenno, the Son of Heaven, or first mikado, began his reign. 

His immediate ancestors were created somehow or other in that re- 



RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 85 

fulgent orb, the sun, floated down to the earth, were deposited on a 
high mountain in the Dragon-Fly Land and furnished with the three 
insignia of their solar origin — the sacred metallic mirror which reflects 
their celestial birth (now preserved in one of the temples of Ise), the 
sword of retribution to enable them to punish evil-doers (now treasured 
in the magnificent temples of Askasa), and the ball of crystal, emblem 
of eternity (in the possession of the present emperor.) 

Thus from time long past the mikado was held too sacred for or- 
dinary mortals to approach. Only a few trusted individuals were al- 
lowed to see and converse with him. As for the government of his 
kingdom he was far too holy to attend to such sublunary affairs. Hence 
he gradually came to be regarded as a divine being, fit only to be en- 
shrined and worshiped, while the princes aided by the empresses of 
Japan administered the affairs of the country. 

Royal Women Workers. 

Naturally the empresses became energetic and powerful rulers ; the 
divinity of their lords and masters seems to have stimulated rather 
than to have blunted their zeal in promoting the material prosperity 
of their country. These royal women superintended the building of cities, 
bridges, temples, ships and harbors; they reformed the ancient laws, 
started agricultural industries, patronized the manufacture of silk, cot- 
ton and fine crepe stuffs, and even caused good roads to be laid out where 
the foot of man had never trodden. 

In the first century of our era a Japanese empress had her first-born 
son instructed in all civil and military exercises. When he had finished 
his schools, she placed him at the head of a large body of trained men 
and sent him to the north, commanding him not to return until he had 
subjugated the rebellious Ainos, who had taken up arms against the 
^ Japanese government. Yamato Dhake, as brave a man as he was an 
obedient son, carried out the queen-mother's instructions, and having 
subdued the rebels, acted with such good judgment and clemency that 
he induced the Ainos chiefs to acknowledge the supremacy of his en- 
shrined father, the Mikado Keiko, and was himself so Iove4 and rev- 



86 RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 

erenced that he is to this day worshiped as a pure deity by the simple- 
hearted Ainos. 

Two centuries later another Japanese empress, the beautiful Jeengho, 
exasperated by the ravages on her country of vast bodies of Korean 
pirates, placed herself and her son, the Prince Ohjeeu, at the head of 
an army, sailed across the straits of Korea, invaded that exclusive land, 
reduced to submission its king and returned home triumphant, bringing 
back with her from the Chosen Land the first books ever seen in Japan ; 
but the crowning act of her life was her conversion to Buddhism and 
the encouragement she gave to Buddhist missionaries to teach the hu- 
manizing religion of the Indian saint. 

Embracing a New Religion. 

Then was witnessed the sight of a whole nation penetrated by the 
higher moral teaching, and embracing a new religion, without any at- 
tempt to persecute or abolish the old — the Shinto or nature-worship of 
ancient Japan. 

From this moment the door of progress was opened; architects, paint- 
ers, japanners, musicians, dancers, chroniclers, artisans, potters, porce- 
lain-manufacturers, fortune-tellers, all crowded into Japan, and were 
welcomed by the empress who left nothing undone to further both the 
spiritual and material advancement of her country. 

But this happy state of things soon closed. The imperial family 
was composed of various heterogeneous elements from which there had 
emerged into prominence two lines of dynasties (with no end of feudal 
chiefs), out of which there arose about this time two princely families. 
Both having acquired immense possessions, and a vast influence over the 
minds of the people by means of their military talents, they now began 
to claim, each in its own respective right, the hereditary title of Military 
Dictator of the realm. 

Like the houses of York and Lancaster, the hatreds and discords of 
these two families involved the country in civil wars. They adopted a 
red flag and a white flag as their respective standards, and were known 
as the Taira and Minamoto clans. The annals of these wars are filled 



RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 87 

with wonderfully romantic incidents, deeds of exalted coiirage, chivalry 
and devotion, strangely identical with those of the feudal times of Euro- 
pean history. 

Religious Discussions. 

And now when the higher life and progress of Japan would undoubt- 
edly have been stifled under the despotic rule of the daimios and sho- 
guns, there appeared on the scene certain Portuguese trading vessels, 
closely followed by a band of Roman Catholic priests, headed by the 
famous St. Francis Xavier, who were invited b^ the then dominant sho- 
gun, Nobunga, to set forth the merits of their religion. 

The Christian priests and Buddhist monks met in the council hall 
of the military despot, and joined in long discussions on the doctrines 
of their respective religions before rapt and discriminating audiences. 
Christianity obtained a firm and vital hold on the affections of the 
Japanese. The Christian priests were not only encouraged to remain, 
but a church and monastery were built for them, wherein to teach and 
preach the doctrines of their church. It is impossible to describe the 
joy with which these priests vvere heard, or the enthusiasm with which 
the people flocked to the little Christian temple, bringing their children 
with them, to be instructed and baptised in the name of Christ. 

The Japanese Christian, with that manly independence which knows 
no shame in professing a new religion, rejoiced openly in the purity, 
beauty and freedom of the Gospel. Many and many a noble embraced 
Christianity, and at last Christian societies were formed in several of 
the great cities, and imperial Rome began to consider the subjugation 
of the whole island to Portugal. 

But the despotic spirit of the shoguns, which had been softened by 
the influence of Christianity, suddenly revived and kindled into hatred 
of the new religion. In spite of the Portuguese missionaries having 
placed themselves under the protection of certain powerful Christian - 
nobles, they were seized, and nine were burned alive at Nagasaki. Never- 
theless the new religion continued to attract converts from all part's 
of the island, and found protection during one or t\TO of the succeeding 
reigns. 



88 RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 

Persecution of Christians. 

In the battle of Sekeghara, A. D. 1600, the shogun of the house of 
Minamoto came off victorious. Taking up his residence at the castle 
town of Yedo, he and his successors swayed the destinies of the beau- 
tiful island; and no sooner was he established as supreme military dic- 
tator than the persecution of both foreign and native Christians was 
renewed with fury. Such of the daimios as embraced Christianity were 
prohibited on political grounds from favoring the new religion; two 
hundred foreign missionaries were ordered on pain of death to quit the 
country. The greater number departed. Only a few souls, who pre- 
ferred death to abandoning the cause of Christ which now numbered 
over two million souls, refused to obey the mandate. Concealed in re- 
mote village inns, or in nooks and corners of the mountain regions, 
they stole out at night to teach, encourage, and pray with their perse- 
cuted followers. One by one they were discovered, taken prisoners, 
and each put to death; while the native Christians were hunted down 
and killed like wild beasts. 

Finally came the awful tragedy of Shimbara in 1637, when thirty 
thousand Christians were massacred, and whoever escaped and was 
retaken was hurled from the summit of Takaboko-Shima into the foam- 
ing waves of the beautiful harbor of Nagasaki. Then the spread of 
Christianity in Japan seemed to be effectually arrested. 

Reforms Instituted. 

For, two hundred and fifty years, Japan was shut in, as if with bolts 
and bars, from all foreign intercourse. Every vestige of her foreign 
trade w^as abolished. Only a few Chinese and one or two Dutch traders 
were permitted to remain unmolested at a small port called Deshima 
Christians were denounced as the "wicked sect." 

But lyeyasu himself, the ruthless persecutor, could not resist the 
impetus given to his country. He instituted many reforms in the gov- 
ernment, and caused the first great history of Japan to be composed 
and published. T'sunayoshi, his successor, founded a university for the 



RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 89 

study of Chinese classics, and the teachings of the great Mongol sage 
Confucius. An observatory was built, and the heavens were scanned 
with wonder and delight; and those matchless mausoleums at Nikko, 
now the national shrines of Japan, were erected to the memories of the 
great shogun rulers, lyeyasu, and lyemitsu, his grandson. 

An Event of Importance. 

While these great works were being carried on, there happened 
one little event, insignificant enough at the time, but which, unfolding 
in the light of future history, seems to stretch forth until there is no 
measuring the length and breadth of it. There was in 1771 an adven- 
turous young physician in Yedo named Sugita. One day as he was 
rambling through the city, he chanced in a shop upon a Dutch book on 
anatomy. He could not read a word of its contents, but he was so 
struck with its wonderful illustrations of the human body that he bought 
.the book and did not rest till he had succeeded in getting copies for two 
of his young friends ; night and day they pondered over the illustrations, 
and then determined to test their accuracy. 

At a medical dissection Sugita and his friends compared and verified 
beyond all doubt the strict fidelity of the pictures in the Dutch treatise. 
The three obtained secret instruction from the Dutch at Deshima, and 
having mastered the book, they translated it into Japanese, reproduced 
the illustrations, and as if by some miracle, it found favor with the 
authorities, and soon became the text-book on anatomy at the medical 
school of Yedo. Little by little the fruits of this labor of love began 
to appear; and the desire for true knowledge once more rekindled was 
never again utterly extinguished. 

First Step Towards a Greater Civilization. 

In 1854 Commodore Perry appeared in the harbor of Japan, and 
succeeded in making a treaty between Japan and the United States. 
Four years after Lord Elgin secured a similar concession for Great 
Britain — and then, when everything seemed most propitious, there fol- 
lowed a sudden reaction. Jealousy and suspicion entered the minds 



90 RISE AS A MODERN POWER. 

of the feudal lords. The government was shaken to its centre. In- 
trigues and assassinations filled the beautiful island. The factions of 
the shogun and the mikado contended for supremacy. No life was safe. 
Native, American, French, Dutch, and English officials were openly- 
assailed, insulted, or basely assassinated in the public highways. One 
dark deed followed another, until the very elements began to take part 
in the work of devastation; earthquakes, typhoons, great tidal waves, 
devouring conflagrations and pestilences followed one another and swept 
the Dragon Fly Land, which seemed like a huge cauldron, boiling and 
seething over. " ^ 

In 1868 the mikado's party triumphed over that of the shogun. In 
1877 the regime of the military despotism was abolished. The ancient 
authority of the m.ikado was re-established; a political crisis exactly 
similar to that which took place in England in the time of Edward IV. 

The mikado was re-enthroned, as a responsible and human sovereign. 
A council assisted him to regulate all state affairs. A governor was 
placed over each province. A man of experience and integrity was ap- 
pointed over each of the departments of Foreign Affairs, Finance, War, 
Marine, Public Works, Agriculture, Commerce and Education. Chris- 
tian teachers, professors and scientists, were welcomed to aid in the 
reformation ; and our Asiatic cousins of the Dragon-Fly Land seemed 
absolutely to leap onward towards a great civilization. 



CHAPTER VII. 
JAPANESE HOME LIFE 

Social Customs — Japanese Houses — Marriage Customs — Tlie Family — Tlie Bath — No Mock 
Modesty — Household Utensils — Very Little Furniture — The Cuisine — Poorly Venti- 
lated Bed-Eooms. 

IMPLICITY is the key-note of the Japanese home-hfe, and because 
of it Japan, as an empire, has been able to endure and grow strong 
under such adverse circumstances as might have wiped it out of exist- 
ence had it been endowed or cursed, with our modern civiHzation. Every 
family has a home. There are no boarding-houses, and the hotels, 
which are comparatively few, considering the size of the population, 
are used only by travelers, A stay of a couple of weeks al^a hotel is con- 
sidered a long one. 

Love Not the Motive in Marriage. 

The men and women marry young, but rare is the man Vv^ho is able 
or who cares to take his bride to a home of his own. The social unit in 
Japan is the family, not the married couple. It is for no such trivial 
matter, in their eyes, as love or mutual attachment that marriages are 
made among the Japanese. Far weightier the reason, which is the pur- 
pose of continuing the family, that sons and heirs may be born to per- 
form the ancestor-worship and keep alive the family name. 

If a family is so unfortunate as to have no son, or to have lost the 
son by death, then either a son must be legally adopted, or, in case 
there is a daughter, a suitable husband is chosen, who, upon his mar- 
riage, assumes the family name, and in all respects, legal and personal, 
is given the place of a true son and heir. 

Children are carefully reared and trained to meet the emergencies 

91 



92 JAPANESE HOME LIFE. 

of their existence, and to fill the sphere they are likely to occupy. A 
girl knows that when she is married, no matter what the social position 
of the family she enters, her place will be that of servant to her grand- 
mother-in-law, mother-in-law and husband, just as long as they live, 
and that when her eldest son arrives at an age of dignity, she will become 
his chief servant as well. 

Houses Inconceivably Small. 

The domestic economy of the household is of the simplest character, 
and so, of necessity, the houses are small and simple beyond American 
imaginations. A family of eight persons will live in perfect comfort in 
a one-story house twenty-four feet square, with no cellar and only a 
small air-chamber above, hardly large enough to call a loft, which is 
sometimes used for storage. This house will probably have a small 
vestibule entrance, while directly joining this entrance is the kitchen, 
for what corresponds to our better living-rooms are always at the back 
of the house, and the kitchen and bath in the front. 

The rear portion of the house is usually arranged so that It may be 
divided by sliding screens, called "fusuma," into two rooms, and these 
overlook a garden that may be very small or of dignified proportions; 
but a garden there is sure to be, even if it covers only a few square feet. 

Whether the house be in a city or a country village, it will be set 
directly on the line of the street, for a garden front is almost unknown. 
Except in the Europeanized Tokio, and in the foreign concessions of the 
port cities, there are no sidewalks, and so one enters from the roadway 
through a gate into a small covered recess where odd-shaped stones 
serve for stepping-places to the vestibule. A tradesman, or one on un- 
pleasant business, gets no farther than this entrance ; but the bride, con- 
ducted after the wedding ceremony to her husband's home, is ushered 
in with much formality; the members of the family take their places in 
the vestibule in proper order of precedence, and prostrate themselves 
in reverences of the deepest respect. 



JAPANESE HOME LIFE. 93 

The Mother-in-Law Supreme. 

The age of the bride will probably be twenty years, and the bride- 
groom's, twenty-one. He, let us say, is the eldest son, and so the first 
to marry. Pleased are the mother and the aged grandmother to have 
added to the household a new and willing handmaid. 

The family consists of the "obaa-san," the honorable elderly one, 
the mother of the lord and master, who may be an honorable judge of 
the local court; his wife, who really, will not regret the day the aged 
mother-in-law passes on to the land of the Sun Goddess, that she, at 
last, may be mistress in her own household instead of chief servant. 
Then come two younger children — a boy of seventeen, who attends the 
modern schools, and is taught strange and incredible things, and a dear 
little girl of twelve, who is not larger than the American child of eight. 
A maid servant, of perhaps thirty, but far older in looks, completes the 
household. None of these is a stranger to the little bride, who has 
lived all her life in the neighborhood, but her heart is heavy and filled 
with foreboding, for fear she may fail in her chief duty, which is to 
please and serve each member of the household, not excepting even the 
old family servant, who may prove to be the most fault-finding of 
them all. 

Little or no Privacy. 

Beyond the kitchen there are two other rooms of the house, and, 
as the screens separating these rooms are removed at early dawn, the 
occupants have no privacy as we know it. But privacy is the last thing 
a Japanese wants. He is sociable by nature; he likes his fellow-beings, 
and to be alone would be unhappiness to him. So far does his love of 
society lead him that he much prefers to take his public bath at the 
public bath-house, where he may chat and gossip, while he scrubs and 
soaks himself, in company with a number of his fellow townspeople. 
When this pleasure was denied him, he formerly used to have his own 
private bath-tub removed to the roadside by his doorway, where he 
could pass the time of day with his neighbors and the passing traveler 
while enjoying his ablutions. 



94 JAPANESE HOME LIFE. 

This custom was likewise held to by the women of the family. Now, 
however, since the restoration of '68, and the enactment of new, and, to 
the Japanese, incomprehensible laws, the local police will permit no 
tubs by the village roadside, and they may be found there only in dis- 
tricts so remote and isolated that the visits of the watchful police are 
few and far between. 

The Rooms Bare of Furniture. 

A Japanese household has no need of separate bedrooms, dining-room 
or parlor, for one room easily serves the purpose of all three. Rooms are 
absolutely bare of furniture, no matter how wealthy the family, with 
the exception, possibly, of a lacquered table raised from the floor about 
one foot. The furnishings of a house consist of the beautiful, spotlessly 
clean straw mats, three feet wide, six feet long and two inches thick, 
that lie snugly over the entire floor-space. Every room is built just 
such a size that it holds a certain number of mats, and is spoken of as 
a three-mat, six-mat, eight-mat or ten-mat room. On these mats are 
laid cushions stuffed with layers of cotton wadding, and covered with 
linen covers of soft, dull shades of blue, green, gray or brown, or, rarely, 
of a soft brov/n or gray leather. 

The Hibachi. 

The "hibachi," or fire-box, might be considered a piece of furniture, 
for there are always one or more of these in every room of the house. 
They are bowls or boxes of metal, wood, china or pottery, and vary in 
size from ten to twenty inches in diameter. The hibachi is well filled 
with charcoal ashes, on the top of which are placed pieces of live char- 
Coal. A tripod of metal or pottery sets over the live coals, and on it rests 
the ever-present water-kettle, in which water for the tea is kept boiling. 
In cold weather, the hibachi serves a double purpose, for it is the only 
means employed for heating. Small and insignificant as it appears, it 
really does temper the air in a room when the ''shoji" and "fusuma" are 
closed, and around it the family will crouch, warming their hands and 
wrists over the glowing coals. 



JAPANESE HOME LIFE. 95 

Objects of Utility and Beauty. 

A second household utensil never lacking is the "tabako-bon." This 
is a small square box, usually of wood, containing a tiny little bowl, also 
filled with ashes, on the top of which is some live charcoal for lighting 
the pipes and cigarettes that are smoked by both men and women, and 
in the box is also a section of bamboo, which forms a tall, slim cup into 
which are dropped the ashes from pipes and cigarette-ends. 

Some object of beauty is necessary to the life of every Japanese 
household, however humble, and so in one of the rooms is always a 
recess called "toko-no-ma," which is raised a few inches above the floor. 
In this recess hangs a '"'kakemona," or picture on a scroll, and below it 
stands a vase containing some arrangement of flowers or branches of a 
tree. These pictures and floral arrangements have special significance, 
and are changed from day to day and according to the season. 

The members of the family sit on their heels on the cushions, with 
the hibachis and tabako-bons beside the elder, and therefore most hon- 
orable, personages in the household; for age is truly venerated in the 
East, and the older one grows, the greater the veneration inspired, and 
the more consideration and courtesy one is shown. 

When a guest arrives, a cushion is placed in front of the toko-no-ma, 
which, being the place of honor, is offered as a proof of extreme polite- 
ness. 

Articles of Food. 

Usually, the kitchen is of such tiny proportions that it is a marvel 
to foreigners how a meal can be prepared there. The cook-stove, or 
range, will probably be a plaster contrivance of only two holes, upon 
which the pots and pans rest, and under which are poked short pieces 
of wood or small pieces of charcoal. The rice is boiled here, and the 
fish fried or broiled, the vegetables cooked, fish-soup made, and also 
delicious omelettes ; but no bread or butter, milk, cream or cheese ever 
enters a Japanese house. The few cakes and sweets used, and dainties 
such as eels fried in "shoyu," and sweet potatoes, are always bought at 
the public shops, and "sembe," or biscuits of various sorts, also come 



96 JAPANESE HOME LIFE. 

from the manufacturers. The sweet potato is to the children what candy- 
is to the foreigner. There are shops that sell nothing but boiled sweet 
potatoes, and a Japanese would as soon think she could cook a sweet 
potato at home as a foreigner would think she could make French candy. 

Table Manners. 

At meal-time lacquer-trays are spread In the kitchen; one for each 
member of the family, and on the tray are placed the covered empty- 
bowl for the rice ; the tiny dish of pickles to eat with the rice ; the bowl 
of fish-soup, in which is floating a square of snow-white bean curd; the 
small dish with the fried or boiled fish, and the dish of vegetables, such 
as egg-plant, lotus-root, bamboo-shoot, beans, or possibly artichoke, ac- 
cording to the season. There are also the chop-sticks with which to 
eat the food. The maid brings in each tray, places it before each mem- 
ber of the family, making a reverence each time, and then goes out, 
returning with a small, white wooden tub, tightly covered, in which is 
the smoking rice. The rice is beautifully cooked, each flake being sep- 
arate ; for gummy, ill-cooked rice Is looked upon with disgust, and eaten 
under protest. It is customary to eat three bowls of rice at least at 
each meal (the bowls are the size of a small teacup), but not one grain 
must be left in the bowl when the meal is finished, for that is a sign of 
ill-breeding. While the meal is in progress, the maid sits by the rice- 
tub and serves the family, and refills the bowls. With the last bowlful, 
hot tea is usually poured over the rice, and later the rice-bowl may be 
used in place of a teacup. 

The trays are all removed when the meal is over, and the dining- 
room again becomes the living-room, which purpose It continues to serve 
until bedtime arrives. 

Japanese Beds. 

Then the maid brings forth from some well-concealed cupboard the 
''futons," which serve both as mattresses and bedding, and these she- 
lays upon the straw mats of the floor, one close to the other, side by 
side. In the rooms of the house we have described there would be 
space for four in each room, with no uncomfortable crowding, so in the 



JAPANESE HOME LIFE. 97 

first room would sleep grandmother, father and mother and the little 
daughter.; while in the next room would be the bride and bridegroom, 
the seventeen-year-old son and the servant, unless by chance the latter 
had a family and home of her own, to which she would go each night. 

The futons are about six feet long and three wide, and are much 
heavier than our comfortables. They are covered with bright-colored 
cotton cloth, and no sheets or counterpanes are used. Two are given 
to each person, one to sleep on and one to sleep under, and with them 
goes a wooden pillow, or rather block, that fits into the nape of the neck, 
or perhaps a small round roll stuffed hard with rice-husk. x\n "andon," 
or lantern, stands on the floor, containing a saucer of oil and a wick 
formed of the pith from a plant, or maybe, a malodorous kerosene lamp. 
All night long these lamps burn, for ghosts cannot see their way about 
unless it is dark, and ghosts are not desirable companions, day or night. 

Stuffy Sleeping Apartments. 

The fear of ghosts clings pertinaciously to the Japanese people in 
spite of the influence of Western education and conversions to Chris- 
tianity, and this trait causes them to suffer the most unhygienic condi- 
tions to accompany their sleep. 

In the daytime, the Japanese cannot have too much fresh air, and 
winter or summer, rain or shine, at the first peep of dawn, the "amado," 
heavy wooden shutters, that really are the outside walls of the house, 
are slid back on their iron groove, and neatly stacked away in the recess 
built for them at the end of the house. Inside the amado, just three 
feet distant, are the "shoji," or fragile sliding paper screens, and these 
too, are pushed back, one upon the other, or lifted out entirely, and thus, 
with both the outside and inside walls removed, the household prac- 
tically lives in the open. The one thing they seem to require In super- 
abundance by day is fresh air, but their desire for this vanishes suddenly 
the moment bedtime comes, and first the shoji and fusuma are put back 
in their places, and then the heavy amado, with much pushing and creak- 
ing, are slid snugly home and fastened shut with a long iron or wooden 
bar. 



98 JAPANESE HOME LIFE. 

When this has been done, the household is prepared for its slumbers, 
but the only fresh air that can possibly get into the house at night must 
force itself through the one or two small crescents that may perhaps 
have been cut in the amado, to give a ray of light for the maid who comes 
to open them in the morning. It is needless to say that a night spent 
in such an atmosphere is not conducive to the maintenance of a healthy 
body, and the two conditions that contribute most to the alarming 
spread of consumption in Japan, and make its cure almost hopeless, are 
those of the sleeping-rooms being shared by so many people, and the 
lack of ventilation at night. 



CHAPTER VIII. 
RELIGIONS OF JAPAN 

Buddhism in Its Early Purity — A Popular Religion — Eternal Life Not to be Desired — 
Various Sects — Nichiren — Buddhist Protestants — Shintoism, Its Gods and Symbols 
— How the Records Were Preserved — Christianity — Its Introduction and Eradication 
— Early Martyrs — The Jesuits — The Fire Smoldering. 

THE indigenous religions of Japan are Shintoism and Buddhism. 
The religion founded by Buddha, which is older by six centuries 
than that founded by Christ is professed by nearly one-third of the 
human race, and has a literature perhaps larger than all other religious 
literatures combined. Christians must surely be interested in knowing 
of the faith they are endeavoring to displace, and when it is considered 
that Buddhist temples are already erected upon American soil, that a 
new development of this ancient faith may yet set itself up as a rival 
of Christianity, the subject will be seen to possess an immediate interest. 

True Estate of the Human Soul. 

Buddhism originated as an atheistic system, with a philosophy and 
a code of morals higher, perhaps, than any heathen religion had reached 
before, or has since attained. It taught that the souls of all men had 
lived in a previous state of existence, and that all the sorrows of this 
life are punishments for sins committed in a previous state. Each hu- 
man soul has whirled through countless eddies of existence, and has 
still to pass through a long succession of birth, pain, and death. All 
is fleeting — nothing is real — this life is all a delusion. After death, the 
soul must migrate for ages through, stages of life, inferior or superior, 
until, perchance, it arrives at last in Nirvana, or absorption in Buddha. 
The true estate of the human soul, according to the Buddhist, is blissful 
annihilation, i .^ (^ , . 

99 



100 RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 

Besides the cardinal prohibitions against murder, steaHng, adultery, 
lying, drunkenness, and unchastity, "every shade of vice, hypocrisy, an- 
ger, pride, suspicion, greediness, gossiping, cruelty to animals, is guarded 
against by special precepts. Among the virtues recommended, we find 
not only reverence of parents, care of children, submission to authority, 
gratitude, moderation in time of prosperity, submission in time of trial, 
equanimity at all times ; but virtue such as the duty of forgiving insults, 
and not rewarding evil v^ith evil." Whatever the practice of the people 
may be, they are taught, as laid down in their sacred books, the rules 
thus summarized above. 

Buddhism Becomes a Theological System. 

Such, as we may glean, was Buddhism in its early purity. Besides 
its moral code and philosophical doctrines, it had almost nothing. An 
ecclesiastical system it was not in any sense. Its progress was rapid 
and remarkable. Though finally driven out of India, it swept through 
Burmah, Siam, China, Thibet, Manchuria, Korea. Siberia, and finally, 
after twelve centuries, entered Japan. 

By this time the bare and bald original doctrines were glorious in the 
apparel with which Asiatic imagination and priestly necessity had 
clothed and adorned them. The ideas had been expanded into a com- 
plete theological system, with all the appurtenances of a stock religion. 

General councils had been held, decrees had been issued, dogmas 
defined or abolished; Buddhism had emerged from philosophy into re- 
ligion. The Buddhist missionaries entered Japan having a mechanism 
perfectly fitted to play upon the fears and hopes of an ignorant people, 
and to bring them into obedience to the new and aggressive faith. 

If there was one country in which the success of Buddhism as a 
popular religion seemed foreordained, that country was Japan. It was 
virgin soil for anything that could be called a religion. Before Buddhism 
came, very little worthy of the name existed. Day by day, each new 
ray of the light of research that now falls upon that gray dawn of 
Japanese history shows that Shinto was a pale and shadowy cult, and 



RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. loi 

that the coming of Buddhism quickened it, by the force of opposition, 
into something approaching a religious system. 

If the heart of the ancient Japanese longed after a solution of the 
questions v\^hence? whither? why? — if it yearned for religious truth, as 
the hearts of all men doubtless do — it must have been ready to welcome 
something more tangible than the emptiness of Shinto. 

Life Has No Charms for the Asiatic. 

Buddhism came to touch the heart, to fire the imagination, to feed 
the intellect, to offer a code of lofty morals, to point out a pure life 
through self-denial, to awe the ignorant, and to terrify the doubting. A 
well-fed and clothed Anglo-Saxon, to whom conscious existence seems 
the very rapture of joy, and whose soul yearns for an eternity of life, 
may not understand how a human soul could ever long for utter absorp- 
tion of being and personality, even in God, much less for total annihila- 
tion. 

But, among the Asiatic poor, where ceaseless drudgery is often the 
lot for life, where a vegetable diet keeps the vital force low, where the 
tax-gatherer is the chief representative of government, where the earth- 
quake and typhoon are so frequent and dreadful, and where the forces 
of nature are feared as malignant intelligences, life does not wear such 
charms as to lead the human soul to long for an eternity -of it. 

New Schools of Thought. 

Among the various sects of Buddhism, however, the understanding 
of the doctrine of Nirvana varies greatly. Some believe in the total 
nonentity of the human soul, the utter annihilation of consciousness; 
while others, on the contrary, hold that, as part of the divine whole, 
the human soul enjoys a measure of conscious personality. Persecution 
and opposition at first united together the adherents of the new faith, 
but success and prosperity gave rise to schisms. New sects were founded 
in Japan, while many priests traveled abroad to Korea and China, and 
came back as new lights and reformers, to found new schools of thought 
and worship. Of these the most illustrious was Kobo, famed not only as 



I02 RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 

a scholar, but as an eminently holy bonze, or priest, and the compiler of 
the Japanese alphabet, which, with diacritical points, may be increased 
to the number of seventy. 

The Golden Century of Buddhism. 

The thirteenth of the Christian era is the golden century of Japanese 
Buddhism ; for then were developed those phases of thought peculiar 
to it, and sects founded, most of them in Kioto, which are still the most 
flourishing in Japan. Among these were, in 1202, the Zen; in 121 1, the 
Jodo; in 1262, the Shin, and in 1282, the Nichiren. In various decades 
of the century several other important sects originated, and the number 
of brilliant intellects that adorned the priesthood at this period is re- 
markable. Of these, only two can be noticed, for lack of space. 

In A. D. 1222, there was born, in a suburb of the town of Kominto, 
in Awa, a child who was destined to influence the faith of millions, and 
to leave the impress of his character and intellect indelibly upon the 
minds of his countrymen. He was to found the Nichiren sect of Bud- 
dhism, which should grow to be one of the largest, wealthiest, and most 
influential in Japan. 

Characteristics of the Nichirenites. 

No other sect is so fond of controversy. The bonzes of none other 
can excel those of the Nichiren in proselyting zeal, in the bitterness of 
their theological arguments, in the venom of their revilings, or the force 
with which they hurl their epithets at those who differ in opinion or 
practices from them. In their view, all other sects than theirs are use- 
less. 

Among the Nichirenites are to be found more prayer-books, drums, 
and other noisy accompaniments of revivals, than in any other sect. 
They excel in the number of pilgrims, and in the use of charms, spells, 
and amulets. Their priests are celibates, and must abstain from wine, 
fish, and all flesh. They are the ranters of Buddhism. To this day, a 
revival meeting in one of their temples is a scene that often beggars 
description; and may weaken deaf ears. 



RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 103 

The Youth of Nichiren. 

Nichiren ("sun-lotus") was so named by his mother, who at con- 
ception had dreamed that the sun ("nichi") had entered her body. This 
story is also told of other mothers of Japanese great men, and seems to 
be a favorite stock-belief concerning the women who bear children that 
afterward become men of renown or exalted holiness 

The boy grew up surrounded by the glorious scenery of mountain, 

wave, shore, and with the infinity of the Pacific Ocean before him. He 

was a dreamy, meditative child. He was early put under the care of 

a holy bonze, but when grown to manhood discarded many of the old 

doctrines, and, being dissatisfied with the other sects, resolved to found 

one, the followers of which should be the holders and examplers of the 

pure truth. 

A Menace to the Public Peace. 

Nichiren founded numerous temples, but was busy during the whole 
of his life, when not in exile, in teaching, preaching, and itinerating. 
He published a book called Ankoku Ron ("An argument to tranquilize 
the country".) The bitterness with which he attacked other sects roused 
up a host of enemies against him, who complained to Hojo Tokiyori, the 
"shikken," or holder of the power at Kamakura, and prayed to have 
him silenced, as a destroyer of the public peace, as indeed the holy 
man was. 

Nichiren was banished to Cape Ito, in Idzu, where he remained three 
years. On his release, instead of holding his tongue, he allowed it to 
run more violently than ever against other sects, especially decrying 
the great and learned priests of previous generations. Hojo Tokiyori 
again arrested him, confined him in a dungeon below ground, and con- 
demned him to death. 

The Gods Intervene. 

On a certain day he was taken out to a village on the strand of the 
bay beyond Kamakura, and in front of the lovely island of Enoshima. 
This village is called Koshigoye. At this time Nichiren was forty-three 



I04 RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 

years old. Kneeling down upon the strand, the saintly bonze calmly 
uttered his prayers. 

The swordsman lifted his blade, and, with all his might, made the 
downward stroke. Suddenly a flood of blinding light burst from the 
sky, and smote upon the executioner and the official inspector deputed to 
witness the severed head. The sword blade was broken in pieces, while 
the holy man was unharmed. Through the clemency of Hojo Tokimune, 
Nichiren was pardoned and sent to Sado Island. He was afterward re- 
leased by his benefactor in a general amnesty. 

Nichiren founded his sect at Kioto, and it greatly flourished under 
the care of his disciple, his reverence Nichizo. After a busy and holy 
life, the great saint died at Ikegami, a little to northwest of the Kawasaki 
railroad station, between Yokohama and Tokio, where the scream of 
the locomotive and the rumble of the railway car are but faintly heard 
in its solemn shades. 

The Shin Sect. 

The Protestants of Japanese Buddhism are the followers of the Shin 
sect, founded by his reverence Shinran, in 1262. Shinran was a pupil of 
Honen, who founded the Jodo shiu, and was of noble descent. While 
in Kioto, at thirty years of age, he married a lady of noble blood, named 
Tamayori-hime, the daughter of the Kuambaku. Devout prayer, purity, 
and earnestness of life, and trust in Buddha himself as the only worker 
of righteousness, are insisted upon. Other sects teach the doctrine of 
salvation by works. Shinran taught that it is faith in Buddha that ac- 
complishes the salvation of the believer. 

To treat of the doctrinal difference and various customs of the dif- 
ferent denominations would require a volume. Japanese Buddhism 
richly deserves thorough study, and a scholarly treatise by itself. 

Sacred Shinto Books. 

Notwithstanding the fact that Shintoism is the state religion of 
Japan, that it has its sacred books and symbols, its gods and goddesses, 
its temples and priests, many claim that it is more of a political than a 
religious system, its main tenet being absolute obedience to the mikado. 



RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 105 

who is its head. The two most sacred Shinto books are the Kojiki and 
the Nihonki. Anciently, Japanese books were committed to memory 
and historical records were not put in written form until the eighth cen- 
tury. 

According to a well known authority, in 415 A. D., officials were 
sent into the country to verify and describe the names of all the families. 
Later, a transcription of these records, in Chinese characters took place, 
and in 644 A. D., an historical account of the emperors, the country, 
the officials and the people is said to have existed, which was destroyed 
when Iruka was murdered, and his father's palace, in which these 
records were kept, was burned. Only the history of the country was 
saved. From this work, as well as from what the old men of the whole 
empire remembered, a new compilation was made under the Emperor 
Temmu (673-690 A. D.), and in order that it might not be lost again, 
it was read to a peasant girl, named Are, who was said never to forget 
anything she had once heard. From this record, and from what Are 
still remembered, the first historical record of Japan known to us, the 
Kojiki, was compiled about thirty years later. 

These books contain the mythology of Japan, which is in many 
ways superior to that of Greece. In another chapter of this work, the 
reader will find many interesting facts regarding the above-mentioned 
books, including the Japanese story of "The Creation," which describes 
the origin of the gods and goddesses, of man, and of the earth. 

What the Shintoist Believes. 

Shintoism was introduced into Japan about 1,200 years before Bud- 
dhism; it is called by the Japanese, Kami-No-Michi, or "The Way of 
the Gods." A well known writer on the subject states that the char- 
acteristics of Shintoism are absence of a doctrinal code, of idol-worship, 
of priestcraft, and of any teachings concerning the future, and the state 
of beatification, of heroes, emperors and great men, together with the 
worship of certain forces and objects in nature. It is said that the Kami, 
or gods, number 14,000, of whom 3,700 are known to have shrines ; 
but practically the number is infinite. Each hamlet has its special god, 



io6 RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 

as well as its shrine; and each child is taken to the shrine of the dis- 
trict in which it is born, a month after birth, and the god of that shrine 
becomes his patron. Each god has its annual festival, while many have 
particular days of each month on which people visit their shrines. There 
are good gods, who are worshiped in order that there may be an increase 
of good gifts, and there are bad gods to be appeased. There is the 
sun-god, and the moon-god; there are gods of storms, winds, rain, thun- 
der, fertility, mountains, fields and streams. 

Objects of Worship. 

Among the Shintoists, perhaps the most common object of worship 
is the sun, hence, Japan is called "The Land of the Rising Sun." Then 
there are the "Seven Patrons of Happiness," who have charge of long 
life, riches, daily food, contentment, talents, glory and love. Their im- 
ages are carved in ivory, wood, or cast in bronze, and found in every 
house, sold in the stores, painted on shop signs, and seen in picture 
books. The Shinto temples are very plain, being constructed of wood 
with thatched roofs. They contain no idols, but in the courtyard figures 
of animals are frequently seen. 

Probably the most sacred places of Shintoism are the shrines of Ise, 
visited every year by thousands of pilgrims, but Fugi-Yama, the sacred 
mountain, its snow-covered heights rising over 13,000 feet above the 
sea, is first in the hearts of the people of Japan. It is a frequent sight 
to see hundreds of Shinto pilgrims gathered on the mountain side, robed 
in white, singing their chants to the rising sun. Outside of its sacred 
character, however, this majestic mountain rising from a level plain and 
reaching its snow-capped top above the clouds, possesses a majestic 
beauty that strikes the beholder with awe and admiration. 

Christianity, Firearms and Foreigners. 

Mendez Pinto, a Portuguese adventurer, was probably the first 
European who landed on Japanese soil. Pinto, while in China, had got 
on board a Chinese junk, commanded by a pirate. They were attacked 
by another corsair, their pilot was killed, and the vessel was driven off 



RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. " 107 

the coast by a storm. They made for the Liu Kiu, but, unable to find 
a harbor, put to sea, and after twenty-three days beating about, sighted 
the island of Tanegashima ("Island of the Seed"), off the south of 
Kiushiu, and landed, , 

, The native histories recount the first arrival of Europeans on Tane- 
gashima in 1542, and note that year as the one in which fire-arms were 
first introduced. Pinto and his two companions were armed with ar- 
quebuses, which delighted the people, ever ready to accept whatever 
will tend to their advantage. They were even more impressed with the 
novel weapons than by the strangers. Pinto was invited by the daimio 
of Bungo to visit him, which he did. 

The natives began imm.ediately to make guns and powder, the secret 
of which was taught them by their visitors. In a few years, as we know 
from Japanese history, fire-arms came into general use. To this day 
many country people call them "Tanegashima." Thus, in the beginning, 
hand-in-hand, came foreigners, Christianity and fire-arms. To many a 
native they are still each and equal members of a trinity of terrors, and 
one is a synonym of the other, Christianity to most of "the heathen" 
still means big guns and powder. 

Missionary Work Begins. 

The pirate trader who brought Pinto to Japan cleared twelve hun- 
dred per cent on his cargo, and the three Portuguese returned, loaded 
with presents, to China. This new market attracted hundreds of Portu- 
guese adventurers to Japan, who found a ready welcome at the hands 
of the impressible people. The daimios vied with each other in attract- 
ing the foreigners to their shores, their object being to obtain the 
weapons, and get the wealth which would increase their power, as the 
authority of the Ashikaga shoguns had before this time been cast off, 
and each chief was striving for local supremacy. 

In 1549, Xavier and a brother priest, with two Japanese converts, 
landed at Kagoshima, in Satsuma. Xavier, after studying the rudiments 
of the language, beyond which he never advanced, soon left the capital 
of this war-like clan, for the city had not been favored with the com- 



io8 RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 

merce of the Portuguese ; and, as the missionaries had not come to im- 
prove the material resources of the province, they were not warmly 
welcomed. He then went to Bungo and Nagato. Besides having an in- 
terpreter, though unable to preach, he used to read the Gospel of Mat- 
thew translated into Japanese, and Romanised. There trade was flour- 
ishing and enriching the daimios, and he was warmly received by them. 
His next step was a journey to Kioto. The mikado's authority, he 
found, was merely nominal ; the shogun, Ashikaga Yoshiteru, ruled only 
over a few provinces around the capital. Every one's thoughts were of 
war, and battle was imminent. He attempted to preach several times 
in the streets, but, not being master of the language, failed to secure 
attention, and after two weeks left the city. Not long after, he departed 
from Japan, disheartened by the realities of missionary work. 

Success of the New Faith. 

He had, however, inspired others, who followed him, and their suc- 
cess was amazingly great. Within five years after Xavier visited Kioto, 
seven churches were established in the vicinity of the city itself, while 
scores of Christian communities had sprung up in the south-west. In 
1 581, there were two hundred churches, and one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand native Christians. 

In Bungo, in Harima and Omura, the daimios themselves had pro- 
fessed the new faith, while Nobunaga, the hater of the Buddhists, openly 
favored the Christians, and gave them eligible sites upon which to build 
dwellings and churches. 

In 1583, an embassy of four young noblemen was dispatched by the 
Christian daimios of Kiushiu to the pope, to declare themselves vassals 
of the Holy See. Eight years afterward, having had audience of Philip 
11. of Spain, and fulfilled their mission to the pope at Rome, they re- 
turned, bringing with them seventeen Jesuit missionaries. Spanish friars 
from the Philippine Islands, with Dominicans and Augustans, also 
flocked to the country. The number of Christians at the time of the 
highest success of the missionaries in Japan was, according to their own 
figures, six hundred thousand. 



RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 109 

Internal Strife and Dissension. 

At this time, political and religious strife was almost universal in 
Europe, and the quarrels of the various nationalities followed the buc- 
caneers, pirates, traders, and missionaries to the distant seas of japan. 
The Protestant, Dutch, and English stirred up the hatred and fear of 
the Japanese against the Catholics and finally against each other. Span- 
iards and Portuguese blackened the character of their rivals and as 
vigorously abused each other when it served their interest. All of which 
impelled the shrewd Japanese to contrive how to use them one against 
the other, an art which they still understand. All foreigners, but espe- 
cially Portuguese, then were slave-traders, and thousands of Japanese 
were bought and sold and shipped to Macao, in China, and to the Philip- 
pines. The daimio, Hideyoshi repeatedly issued decrees threatening 
with death these slave-traders, and even the purchasers. The seaports 
of Hirado and Nagasaki were the resort of the lowest class of adventurers 
from all European nations, and the result was a continual series of up- 
roars, broils, and murders among the foreigners. 

The Law Defied. 

While Nobunaga lived, and the Jesuits were in his favor, all was 
progress and victory. Hideyoshi, though at first favorable to the new 
religion, issued, in 1587, a decree of banishment against the foreign 
missionaries. The Jesuits closed their churches and chapels, ceased to 
preach in public, but carried on their work in private as vigorously as 
ever, averaging ten thousand converts a year, until 1590. The Spanish 
mendicant friars, pouring in from the Philippines, openly defied the 
Japanese laws, preaching in their usual garb in public. This aroused 
Hideyoshi's attention, and his decree of expulsion was renewned. Some 
of the churches were burned. In 1596, six Franciscan, three Jesuit, and 
seventeen Japanese converts were taken to Nagasaki, and there crucified. 
Still the Jesuits resided in the country. The Christians next looked to 
Hideyori for their friend and quasi-leader. The battle of Sekighara, and 
the defeat of Hideyori's following, blew their hopes to the winds; and 



no RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 

the ignominious death of Ishida, Konishi, and Otani, the Christian gen- 
erals, drove their adherents to the verge of despair. 

The new daimios began to persecute their Christian subjects and to 
compel them to renounce their faith. The native converts resisted even 
to blood and the taking-up of arms. This was an entirely new thing 
under the Japanese sun. Hitherto the attitude of the peasantry to the 
government had been one of passive obedience and slavish submission. 

Measures to Blot Out Christianity. 

Color was given to this idea by the fact that the foreigners still 
secretly or openly paid court to Hideyori. lyeyasu became more vigi- 
lant as his suspicions increased, and, resolving to crush this spirit of 
independence and intimidate the foreign emissaries, met every outbreak 
with bloody reprisals. In 1606, an edict from Yedo forbade the exer- 
cise of the Christian religion, but an outward show of obedience warded 
off active persecution. In 1610, the Spanish friars again aroused the 
wrath of the government by defying its commands. 

In 161 1, lyeyasu obtained documentary proof of the existence of 
a plot on the part of the native converts and the foreign emissaries 
to reduce Japan to the position of a subject state. The chief conspirator, 
Okubo, then governor of Sado, was to be made hereditary ruler by the 
foreigners. 

lyeyasu now put forth strenuous measures to root out utterly what 
he believed to be a pestilent breeder of sedition and war. Fresh edicts 
were issued, and in 1614 twenty-two Franciscan, Dominican, and 
Augustinian friars, one hundred and seventeen Jesuits, and hundreds 
of native priests were embarked by force on board junks and sent out 
of the country. 

In 161 5, lyeyasu pushed matters to an extreme with Hideyori, who 
was then entertaining some Jesuit priests; and, calling out the troops 
of Kiushiu and the Kuanto, laid siege to the castle of Osaka. A battle 
of unusual ferocity and bloody slaughter raged on the 9th of June, 161 5, 
ending in the burning of the citadel, and the total defeat and death of 
Hidevori and thousands of his followers. 



RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. in 

Early Christian Martyrs. 

The exiled foreign friars, however, kept secretly returning, appar- 
ently desirous of the crown of martyrdom. Hidetada, the shogun, now 
pronounced sentence of death against any foreign priest found in the 
country. lyemitsu, his successor, restricted all foreign commerce to 
Nagasaki and Plirado; all Japanese were forbidden to leave the country 
on pain of death; and in 1624 all foreigners, except Dutch and Chinese, 
were banished from Japan. 

The Christians suffered all sorts of persecutions. They were wrapped 
in straw sacks, piled in heaps of living fuel, and se-t on fire. All the 
tortures that barbaric hatred or refined cruelty could invent were used 
to turn thousands of their fellow-men into carcasses and ashes. Yet 
few of the natives quailed, or renounced their faith. They calmly let 
the fire of wood cleft from the crosses before which they once prayed 
consume them, or walked cheerfully to the blood-pit, or were flung alive 
into the open grave about to be filled up. 

The Way of the Cross. 

If any one doubt the sincerity and fervor of the Christian converts 
of to-day, or the ability of the Japanese to accept a higher form of faith, 
or their willingness to suffer for what they believe, they have but to 
read the accounts preserved in English, Dutch, French, Latin, and 
Japanese, of various witnesses to the fortitude of the Japanese Chris- 
tians of the seventeenth century. The annals of the primitive church 
furnished no instances of sacrifice or heroic constancy in the Coliseum 
or the Roman arenas that were not paralleled on the dry river beds 
and execution grounds of Japan. 

Finally, in 1637, ^^ Shimabara, the Christians rose by tens of thou- 
sands in arms, seized an old castle, repaired and fortified it, and raised 
the flag of rebellion. Armies from Kiushiu and the Kuanto, composed 
mainly of veterans of Korea and Osaka, were sent by the shogun to 
besiege it, A siege of two months, by land and water, was, however, 
necessary to reduce the fortress, which was finally done with the aid 



112 RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 

of Dutch cannon, furnished under compulsion"! by the traders at 
Deshima. 

The intrepid garrison, after great slaughter, surrendered, and then 
the massacre of thirty-seven thousand Christians began, and was fin- 
ished by the hurling of thousands more from the rock of Pappenberg, 
in Nagasaki harbor. Thousands more were banished to various prov- 
inces, or put to death by torture. Others escaped and fled to the island 
of Formosa, joining their breathren already there. 

The Dutch gained the privilege of a paltry trade and residence on 
the little fan-shaped island of Deshima in front of Nagasaki. Here, 
under degrading restrictions, and constant surveillance, lived a little 
company of less than twenty Hollanders, who were allowed one ship 
per annum to come from the Dutch East Indies and exchange com- 
modities of Japan for those of Holland. 

A Scar on the National Memory. 

After nearly a hundred years of Christianity and foreign intercourse, 
the only apparent results of this contact with another religion and 
civilization were the adoption of gunpowder and firearms as weapons, 
the use of tobacco and the habit of smoking, the making of sponge-cake 
(still called Castira — the Japanese form of Castile), the naturalization 
into the language of a few foreign words, the introduction of new and 
strange forms of disease, and the permanent addition to that catalogue 
of terrors which priest and magistrate in Asiatic countries ever hold as 
weapons to overawe the herd. 

So thoroughly was Christianity supposed to be eradicated before 
the end of the seventeenth century, that its existence was historical, 
remembered only as an awful scar on the national memory. It was left 
to our day, since the recent opening of Japan, for them to discover that 
a mighty fire had been smoldering for over two centuries beneath the 
ashes of persecution. 

The Leaven at Work. 

As late as 1829 seven persons, six men and an old woman, were 
crucified in Osaka, on suspicion of being Christians, and communicating 







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EMBARKATION OF RUSSIAN TROOPS 

Far East— many of them never to return. 



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TYPE OF PEASANT WOMAN, CEN- 
TRAL RUSSIA 



TRAVELING SCHOOL TEACHERS 





BLIND BEGGAR— TYPE OF NORTH- 
ERN RUSSIA 



PEASANT WOMAN OF MOSCOW 




" THE MAN WHO IS WAKENG UP " 

The above shows a group of Russian peasants enjoying what we in America would 
call a "picnic." The peasants were for many years merely serfs or slaves, but Czar Alexander 
II. gave them their freedom and they are slowly working out their destiny. 




MONUMENT AT KIEV 

In memory of Grand Duke Vladimir, who introduced Christianity in Russia 




PEASANT TYPES OF CENTRAL RUSSIA 



RELIGIONS OF JAPAN. 113 

with foreigners. When the French brethren of the Mission ApostoHque, 
of Paris, came to Nagasaki, in i860, they found in the villages around 
them over ten thousand people who held the faith of their fathers of 
the seventeenth century. 

The Japanese mental constitution and moral character have been 
profoundly modified in turn by Shintoism, Buddhism and Confucianism, 
but the early waves of Christianity that passed over Japan left no sedi- 
ment teeming with the fertility, rather a barren waste like that which 
the river floods leave in autumn. The leaven has been at work, however, 
and the indications are that the Christianity of the present will bring 
about a revolution in faith and moral practice. 



CHAPTER IX. 
ANCIENT RUSSIA 

Her Early Domain— Good and Bad Rulers— When Converted to Christianity— Vladimir, 
a Great Name in Russian History — ^Wholesale Baptism — Translation of Holy Scrip- 
tures — ^Destruction of Kief — The Hanseatic League — Moscow. 

THE Russian empire is comparatively young. It is practically a 
modern structure in its political composition. 

It is a medley of many peoples. This is quite as true of the Tsar's 
empire as of Great Britain, but the geographical solidity of Russia might 
deceive the casual observer in the one case, whereas the vast dominions 
of Edv^ard VII., being scattered to the four corners of the earth, are 
obviously of different tongues and complexions. 

So it is with Russia. The Tsar's subjects embrace the fair-haired 
nations of the Baltic, the wild Cossacks of the Don, the Turcoman races 
of the mountain regions to the south of the Caspian, Kurds, Kalmucks, 
Mongols, Eskimos, and all the tribes that stretch from the Ural east- 
ward to the Pacific without name and without number. We have, 
therefore, to consider an ethnological conglomerate. 

The Scourge of the Steppes. 

The ancients knew very little about what is now Russia in Europe. 
The Greeks had colonies and factories about the shores of the Black 
Sea, but they never made much headway toward a knowledge of the 
country. The people were called Scythians and some Were known to 
be farmers and established in settlements along the Dnieper River, 
while others were nomads. The headquarters of such government as 
they had seems to have been in the vicinity of the Azof Sea. 

A little later we find a Greeco-Scythian state on the Bosphorus, 
while the cities of Olbia and Chersonesos exercised a civilizing influence 

114 



ANCIENT RUSSIA. 115 

upon the barbarians to the north. The Chersonese of the Greeks cor- 
responded to the modern Crimea. 

When the power of Rome rose and became heir to the Greek con- 
quests in Asia, the wild Scythian was a source of constant trouble. 
Many a time Rome's legions were put to the test to keep this scourge 
of the steppes on their own side of the Danube and away from the 
Mediterranean. One w^ave after another of Asiatic tribes pressed west- 
ward — everywhere a catastrophe. They were nomadic nations of widely 
different races, which rolled into Europe one after the other. 

One of these movements resulted in the founding of the vast empire 
in eastern Scythia by the Goths under Hermaneric. They were driven 
out and overthrown by a cloud of Finnish people, Avars, Bulgarians, 
Magyars and Khazars, v^^ho followed upon the heels of the Huns. In 
the midst of this melee the Slavs came to the front and appeared in 
history under their proper name. 

Rurik the Peacemaker. 

The seat of the Roman empire, having now in the fourth century 
been established at Constantinople, a struggle between the Romans 
and the Greeks on the one hand, and the barbarians on the other, ensued 
for the mastering of the Balkan peninsula. 

We may pass over a long series of more or less mythical and unim- 
portant semi-savage wars and migrations until we approach the historic 
period when the Slavs began to take a national name and form, under 
the name of Russians, a word which comes from the appellation of one 
of their tribes known as the Russ or Rossani. 

In the midst of dissension and rebellious faction we find a noted 
Varangian chief, Rurik, who appears upon the scene as peacemaker, 
with the result that he restored quiet, suppressed factions, made him- 
self master of the country and laid the foundations of the Russian 
empire. After a reign of fifteen years and a career of victorious con- 
quest Rurik died, leaving his infant empire to his son Igor, who was a 
child and whose crown was kept for him by a kinsman named Oleg, 
who assumed the reins of power in the year 879. 




ii6 ANCIENT RUSSIA. 

The Throne Held in Trust. 

Oleg existed only for the aggrandizement of his country, which he 
sought to accomplish without scruple, so far as means to his end were 
concerned. He had but one purpose at heart, and that was to make a 
greater Russia. He was a tyrant, a soldier and brute. 

His capital was at Novgorod, called "The Great," but as he observed 
that the city of Kief had a milder climate and was farther advanced in 
civilization, he decided to move. 

There was a little difhculty in the way, because it did not belong to 
his dominions, being under the rulership of another family of princes. 
He resolved to remove them from his path. Under a pretense of mak- 
ing a treaty, he drew them into an ambuscade and, capturing them, 
had them put to death. Proud of this nefarious crime, he issued a 
proclamation in which he declared, "Let Kief henceforth be the mother 
of all Russian cities." In accordance with his words it remained the 
capital of the empire for three hundred and fifty years. 

Igor Comes to His Own. 

Oleg died in 912 A. D., having reigned thirty-three years, during 
which time he had greatly enlarged and consolidated the government. 
At his death his kinsman, Igor, who seems to have simply looked on 
up to that point, succeeded to the crown. He was nearly forty years 
of age at the time he came to his father's throne. He appears to have 
been a well-meaning man, but as might have been expected from the 
fact that he allowed Oleg to hold the government so long, he proved 
to be an inefificient sovereign. 

Fortunately, he was married and his wife, Olga, was a woman of 
more than ordinary ability. She was likewise ambitious, and poor Igor 
seems to have been little else than her husband. What was done for 
Russia during this reign she seems to have been responsible for, and 
at Igor's death, in 945, she became regent. Their young son and heir, 
not being yet fitted for the responsibilities of government, Olga took 
charge of public affairs with the dignity and title of Queen. 



Iliuiocriiiaii 



ANCIENT RUSSIA. 117 

A Famous Character in History. 

This woman is a favorite character in Russian story. Many old 
romances hung about her and many ballads were tuned to her praise. 
She is represented as having been a very beautiful peasant girl, whom 
Igor met while traveling through the country in disguise, and who 
managed to win her without disclosing his true rank. It was during 
her reign that Russia became Christian, she being the first sovereign to 
renounce paganism. 

She publicly embraced Christianity at Constantinople, being baptized 
into the Greek-CathoHc church. The country at that time, however, 
would not accept Christianity and Queen Olga's efforts were unavailing. 
The people clung tenaciously to their old idols, and the stone gods of 
the ancient Scythians were still worshipped. The chief of the Russian 
deities was called Perune and about this divinity hung all sorts of gro- 
tesque superstitions to which the people were wedded. 

Queen Olga's heir and son, Sviatoslav, to his mother's grief and 
disgust, remained a true pagan. He was a chivalrous and valiant prince, 
however, and the idol of his army. He was emphatically a soldier 
monarch, succeeding to the crown in the year 957. He was ever at the 
front with his forces, whose dangers and privations he shared, Hving 
in all respects like the humblest soldier in the ranks. He won fame as a 
sovereign in war and conquest, and, under his administration, Russia 
grew in territory and power. At his death, however, which occurred in 
the year 972, there was a war over the succession. 

A Celebrated Sovereign. 

\ 
\ 

\ He had three sons w^ho fought for the crown. In 980, Vladimir, a 
great name in Russian history, the youngest of the brothers, gained the 
sole dominion. He made Russia Christian; he undertook a careful 
investigation of all known religions, he conferred with learned men and 
received those doctors of divinity who had made theology a profession; 
he consulted Monks, Buddhists, Brahmins and expounders of various 
other doctrines, taking ample time and no end of trouble in the enquiry. 



ii6 ANCIENT RUSSIA. 

The Throne Held in Trust. 

Oleg existed only for the aggrandizement of his country, which he 
sought to accomplish without scruple, so far as means to his end were 
concerned. He had but one purpose at heart, and that was to make a 
greater Russia. He was a tyrant, a soldier and brute. 

His capital was at Novgorod, called "The Great," but as he observed 
that the city of Kief had a milder climate and was farther advanced in 
civilization, he decided to move. 

There was a little difficulty in the way, because it did not belong to 
his dominions, being under the rulership of another family of princes. 
He resolved to remove them from his path. Under a pretense of mak- 
ing a treaty, he drew them into an ambuscade and, capturing them, 
had them put to death. Proud of this nefarious crime, he issued a 
proclamation in which he declared, "Let Kief henceforth be the mother 
of all Russian cities." In accordance with his words it remained the 
capital of the empire for three hundred and fifty years. 

Igor Comes to His Own. 

Oleg died in 912 A. D., having reigned thirty-three years, during 
which time he had greatly enlarged and consolidated the government. 
At his death his kinsman, Igor, who seems to have simply looked on 
up to that point, succeeded to the crown. He was nearly forty years 
of age at the time he came to his father's throne. He appears to have 
been a well-m.eaning man, but as might have been expected from the 
fact that he allowed Oleg to hold the government so long, he proved 
to be an inefficient sovereign. 

Fortunately, he was married and his wife, Olga, was a woman of 
more than ordinary ability. She was likewise ambitious, and poor Igor 
seems to have been little else than her husband. What was done for 
Russia during this reign she seems to have been responsible for, and 
at Igor's death, in 945, she became regent. Their young son and heir, 
not being yet fitted for the responsibihties of government, Olga took 
charge of public affairs with the dignity and title of Queen. 



ANCIENT RUSSIA. 117 

A Famous Character in History. 

This woman is a favorite character in Russian story. Many old 
romances hung about her and many ballads were tuned to her praise. 
She is represented as having been a very beautiful peasant girl, whom 
Igor met while traveling through the country in disguise, and who 
managed to win her without disclosing his true rank. It was during 
her reign that Russia became Christian, she being the first sovereign to 
renounce paganism. 

She publicly embraced Christianity at Constantinople, being baptized 
into the Greek-Catholic church. The country at that time, however, 
would not accept Christianity and Queen Olga's efforts were unavailing. 
The people clung tenaciously to their old idols, and the stone gods of 
the ancient Scythians were still worshipped. The chief of the Russian 
deities was called Perune and about this divinity hung all sorts of gro- 
tesque superstitions to which the people were wedded. 

Queen Olga's heir and son, Sviatoslav, to his mother's grief and 
disgust, remained a true pagan. He was a chivalrous and valiant prince, 
however, and the idol of his army. He was emphatically a soldier 
monarch, succeeding to the crown in the year 957. He was ever at the 
front with his forces, whose dangers and privations he shared, living 
in all respects like the humblest soldier in the ranks. He won fame as a 
sovereign in war and conquest, and, under his administration, Russia 
grew in territory and power. At his death, however, which occurred in 
the year 972, there was a war over the succession. 

A Celebrated Sovereign. 

I He had three sons who fought for the crown. In 980, Vladimir, a 
great name in Russian history, the youngest of the brothers, gained the 
sole dominion. He made Russia Christian; he undertook a careful 
investigation of all known religions, he conferred with learned men and 
received those doctors of divinity who had made theology a profession ; 
he consulted Monks, Buddhists, Brahmins and expounders of various 
other doctrines, taking ample time and no end of trouble in the enquiry. 



ii8 ANCIENT RUSSIA. 

He finally accepted Christianity and forthwith abolished paganism 
and ordered his people to the rivers to be baptized and, according to the 
stories which have come down to us, he caused his words to be obeyed 
and his subjects proceeded by thousands to carry out the order. It 
is said that thirty thousand were baptized into the Greek church upon 
the same day as their sovereign, who received, when he was christened, 
the name Basilius. 

Out of compliment to the young sovereign, who had thus embraced 
the true faith, the Greek emperor gave his daughter Anne in marriage 
to his brother of Russia, and henceforth the country belonged to the 
patriarchate of Constantinople, and Kief became the cathedral city of 
the Russian empire. 

The Heroic Epoch of Russia. 

Under this reign the idols were destroyed, churches were built, learn- 
ing and the arts were cultivated. This regime is considered the heroic 
epoch of Russia. It v/as the age of poetic enthusiasm, with "Sunny 
Prince Vladimir" as the topic of the minstrel, who sang the glory of his 
reign. Historians have called Vladimir "The Great," because of his 
superiority over those who had gone before him, and because of his 
conspicuous brilliancy in the rude age in which he lived. 

It is shocking to note, however, that this "Saint" Vladimir, as the 
Russians called him, with all of his greatness and chivalric qualities, 
murdered his brother and was a polygamist. Wise as was this monarch 
in statecraft, in his death he made a great blunder in disposing of the 
government by dividing the empire among his seven sons. By so doing 
other divisions followed, until finally Russia, which had been unified 
and solidified by the efforts of centuries, was torn to shreds. 

Its power was frittering away; its political importance disappeared, 
and the people were re-plunged into barbarism, from which they were 
just emerging. Long and sanguinary wars ensued among the rival 
brothers and their partisans, until finally, in 1026, Jaroslov and Matislas 
made amicable arrangement to rule jointly, which they did for ten years, 
when his brother having died, Jaroslov assumed sole control of the 
shapeless colossus which the empire had become. 



ANCIENT RUSSIA. 119 

Jaroslov the Wise. 

This monarch is honored in Russian annals by a surname, "The 
Wise." He is also sometimes called "The Great," quite a common 
appellation for Russian sovereigns, at least among Russians. This 
ruler seems to have been a student. He had a taste for making laws 
and he prepared a code for the settlement of disputes among his sub- 
jects upon recognized principles of right and w^rong. 

He first established schools quite generally, and, although himself 
a stout adherent of the Greek church, he suffered no persecutions for 
the sake of religion. He caused the Holy Scriptures to be translated 
into the Russian tongue, and is said to have transcribed several copies 
with his own hand, for it will be remembered that he died just five hun- 
dred years before Gutenberg had begun to print. As might have been 
expected from a man given to letters and the law, he was a good poli- 
tician and arranged marriages for the members of his family with a view 
to the dynastic value of the alliances. 

His sister became Queen of Poland, and his three daughters. Queens 
of Norway, France and Hungary respectively. For his sons he selected 
wives who were Greek, German and English princesses. This sover- 
eign, also, following the example of his father, divided up the realm 
among his five sons. Fie died in 1054, and his last act in the division of 
the country proved equally disastrous as in the previous case, his five 
sons fighting against each other to the bitter end, and in turn leaving 
similar quarrels to their own posterity. 

Famous in Politics and Peace. 

"^ During the next hundred and eighty years Russia was ruled by no 
less than seventeen princes and the country made little progress, no 
name being conspicuous among them until we come to Vladimir 2nd, 
surnamed Monomachus, who ruled from 11 13 to 1126. He was crowned 
in 1 1 14 and stands out in history as a great genius in an age of darkness 
and barbarism. 

He waged no wars but those which the safety and the integrity of 



I20 ANCIENT RUSSIA. 

his country demanded. His greatness was not demonstrated so much 
upon the field of battle as in the arts of poHtics and peace. No stain 
rests upon his character. On his death bed, like the late General Grant, 
he wrote the record of his life, which he interspersed with much good 
advice and wise counsel for his children and his successors. He ex- 
horted his followers to be fathers to the orphans and judges for the 
widow. He was opposed to capital punishment, saying, "Put to death 
neither the innocent nor the guilty, for nothing is more sacred than the 
life and the soul of a Christian. Praise God and love men. It is neither 
fasting nor solitude, nor monastic vows that can give you eternal life 
but beneficence alone." 

War Over the Succession. 

This prince had come to the throne practically by vote of the people, 
not being in direct succession, and having twice refused the crown be- 
queathed to him by the dying king. It seems that he finally took it only 
to save the country from fratricidal strife and ruin. He reigned thirteen 
years with signal success and was succeeded by chaos. 

There were two branches of his family which engaged in bloody 
war over the succession. His first wife was Gyda, daughter of Harold, 
the last Saxon king of England. Mstislas, the son of this marriage, 
succeeded to the throne. He inherited the virtues of both parents, and 
in a brief reign of six years carried out the wise and pacific policy of 
his father, but his rule was too short, unfortunately, and, upon his death 
in 1 1 32, the struggles between the warring factions at the head of the 
various principalities had full swing. In the course of thirty-two years 
eleven princes grasped the sceptre, each holding it only until another 
more powerful wrested it from his hands. 

Moscow Assumes Importance. 

The Poles, taking advantage of the distracted state of affairs, invaded 
the empire on the one hand, while the Tartars swept out of Asia and 
overrun the country from the east. In the midst of the struggle, Kief, 
"the Mother of Cities," was destroyed, being given over to pillage by 
the forrces of the princes of Moscow and Gallitch. With the warring 



ANCIENT RUSSIA. 121 

parties one capital after the other arose to pre-eminence. Upon the 
destruction of Kief, Moscow began to assume new importance. Nov- 
gorod, always a seat of power of greater or less magnitude, likewise 
had its ups and downs. 

The Institutions of Novgorod. 

In considering the early history of Russia, Novgorod deserves more 
than a passing mention. From the most remote antiquity this city was 
the political center of Northwest Russia, and from her location had a 
character of people and institutions peculiar to herself and quite inde- 
pendent of Eastern Russia in many particulars. Her character was 
Gothic rather than Asiatic, or Tartar. While her people seem to have 
possessed an insatiable hankering after a prince, the government was 
in reality a republic, in some points resembling that of the free cities of 
Germany during the first half of the nineteenth century. 

According to tradition her foundations were laid by the Slavs of 
the Ilmen, whose origin is uncertain, some authorities holding that 
they came from tribes originally situated in the South, while others 
maintaining that they were Slavs of the Baltic from the earliest antiquity. 
At any rate, we find the Novgorodians at the opening of Russian his- 
tory at the head of a confederation of tribes which exercised a powerful 
influence upon the course of events, and which was able by its strength 
to protect itself from many of the calamities which befell other capitals, 
notably Kief. 

Resembled a Modern City. 

From very ancient times the city was divided into two parts, sepa- 
rated by the course of the Volkhof which rises in Lake Ilmen and 
empties into the Ladoga. On the right bank was the side of St. Sophia, 
where Jaroslov built the celebrated cathedral, and where the Kremlin 
was located, enclosing both the palaces of the archbishop and the mov- 
able prince. This is the site of the famous Russian monument which 
was consecrated in 1862. On the left bank of the river was the side 
of commerce, the two parts of the city being united by a grand bridge, 
often celebrated in the annals of Novgorod. 



122 ANCIENT RUSSIA. 

It is noticeable that the city was composed of certain quarters, in 
each of which dwelt respectively separate nationalities or trades, just 
as in ancient Rome, Pompey, after he conquered the Samnites, brought 
them to the capital and planted them across the Tiber between the 
river and the Janiculum hill, a division which retains its character to 
the present day, under the name of The Trastevere. To-day there is 
the "Ghetto," the quarter of Jews, and in Paris we find the "Latin 
Quarter," and in London and New York the great "East Side" settle- 
ments, where races and classes find a congenial home in a colony within 
the city.' So in Novgorod we find allusions to the quarters of the 
Prussians, the Slavs, the porters, the carpenters and so on. 

A Population of One Hundred Thousand. 

Gilbert of Lannoy, who visited the republic about 1413, has left a 
description of it, in the course of which he says, describing the city of 
his day, "Novgorod is a prodigiously large town situated in a beautiful 
plain in the midst of vast forests. The soil is low, subject to inundations, 
and marshy in places. The town is surrounded by imperfect ramparts, 
formed of gabions; the towers are of stone." 

Portions of these fortifications alluded to above still exist, by which 
we are able to form some idea of the immense extent of the ancient 
city. She seems to have had within her walls at least one hundred 
thousand people, while within her domains, which stretched northward 
to Lapland and eastward to the Ural mountains and northeast into 
Siberia, she could not have had less than three hundred thousand 
subjects. 

Elected Their Ruler. 

These rude republicans were governed by a burgomaster or mayor, 
but at the sam.e time the}^ always desired a prince, whom they selected 
from the large stock constantly on hand throughout the empire. The 
crown, however, was firmly held in check, and whenever the people 
tired of their nominal ruler they simply discharged him and selected 
a successor. In the meantime the city took little part in the wars which 



ANCIENT RUSSIA. 123 

raged between rival factions, being too strong to make attack safe and 
caring little for the turbulent questions which disturbed the Russians 
of the far-away Dnieper. 

The spirit of the place may be gathered from a tradition which has 
come down to us, to the effect that when upon one occasion a grand 
prince of Kief proposed to place his son over them they sent a formal 
message advising his father that they would receive him, but unless he 
had a spare head he had better keep the young man at home. 

It is curious to note that the power of a prince once chosen rested 
practically upon the fortunes of the political party which had selected 
him. It thus happened that when the opposing party grew too strong 
he was dethroned. In this particular we observe a resemblance between 
the position of the prince and that of the prime minister of a modern 
constitutional monarchy such as Great Britain or Italy. 

From the circumstance that no dynasty of princes could firmly 
establish itself at Novgorod and no royal line be built up as the head 
of a military aristocracy of titled landholders, it follows that the 
republic kept her ancient liberties and customs intact under the short 
reigns of her elected monarchs. The town was more powerful than 
the prince, who reigned by virtue of a constitution which was the crea- 
tion of the citizens. Each new monarch was compelled to obey the laws 
and observe the provisions of this constitution, which was devised to 
limit the power of the princes and protect the rights of the people. 

Various Classes of Society. 

From a social point of view the constitution of Novgorod somewhat 
resembled that of Poland. Great inequality then existed between the 
different classes of society. There was- an aristocracy which, while not 
depending upon the crown but rather of it, was extremely arrogant and 
powerful. First there was a sort of political nobility called the Boyards, 
whose intestine quarrels constantly agitated the city. Then came a 
kind of inferior nobility; then the different classes composed of the 
merchants, laborers and artisans, and, last of all, the peasants of the 
rural districts. 



124 ANCIENT RUSSIA. 

The merchants formed an association of their own, a sort of guild, 
around the Church of St. John. Military societies also existed — bands 
of independent adventurers who sometimes made independent forays 
afar on the great rivers of northern Russia, engaging in indiscriminate 
pillage or establishing military colonies among the Finnish tribes. 

The soil of Novgorod was sandy, marshy and unproductive, a cir- 
cumstance which led to periodical famines and pestilences, resulting in 
great loss of population. These conditions also compelled Novgorod 
to extend itself in order to live, and she therefore became perforce a 
commercial and colonizing city. 

Thus we see them exchanging iron and weapons for the precious 
metal found in the mines of the Urals and making their way around the 
cataracts of the Dnieper to the mouth of the river, spreading themselves 
over all the shores of the Greek empire. They traded also with the 
Baltic Slavs and with the Germans. When the latter began to dispute 
the commerce of the Baltic with the Scandinavians, Novgorod became 
the seat of a German depot. 

The vicious commercial instinct which is so conspicuous in the 
Teutonic race to-day seems to have been just as marked in the early 
times when the Germans first got a foothold in Novgorod, in the 
twelfth century. 

The Germans in Control. 

When the Hanseatic League became the mistress of the North we 
find the Germans in absolute control of commerce. They obtained 
considerable privileges, even the right to acquire pasture land. They 
fortified their depots with stockades of thick planks, where no Russians 
had the right to penetrate without their leave. This German trading 
company was governed by the most narrow and exclusive ideas. 

No Russian was allowed to belong to the company, nor to carry the 
wares of a German, an Englishman or a Fleming. The company only 
authorized a wholesale trade, and to maintain her goods at a high price. 
She forbade imports beyond a certain amount. 

During three centuries this league concentrated in her own hands 
all tiie external commerce of northern Russia, with the result that 



ANCIENT RUSSIA. 125 

Novgorod and her sister city, Pskof, were deprived of free commerce 
with the West, abandoned to the good pleasure and pitiless egotism of 
the German merchants. 

But while Novgorod and Northern Russia, of which she was the 
center, fell under the commercial sway of the Germans, and finally was 
obliged to bow the knee to Moscov/, the church had steadily grown in 
power and at length became thoroughly established throughout the 
north. 

The Ecclesiastical Forces. 

The church constitution of Russia presents some special features. 
In the rest of the empire the clergy was Russian Orthodox, but at 
Novgorod it was Novgorodian. It was not until the twelfth century 
that the Baltic Slavs, vv^ho had been the last to abandon paganism, were 
allowed to have an archbishop who was neither from Constantinople 
or Kief. From this time forward, however, their chief ecclesiastic was 
one of their own race, elected by the citizens. 

He was at once installed in his Episcopal palace, without waiting 
approval from the head of the Russian church, and at once became the 
chief personage of the republic. In public acts and proclamations his 
name was always placed ahead of that of the prince and burgomaster. 

Thus we have essentially a national church which lasted so long as 
Novgorod maintained its pre-eminence, and the Archbishop of St. Sophia 
was one of the grand dignitaries of Europe, while his revenues would 
suffice the treasury of a kingdom. But with a rise of the Muscovite 
princes, the Novgorodian church naturally became subject to that of 
Russia in general, whose patriarch has been established at Constan- 
tinople. 

We have thus reviewed hastily the beginnings of Russia, with a 
glance at its chief personages and a sketch of the racial, ecclesiastical 
and commercial forces which have worked together for the develop- 
ment of society under civilized conditions, and which combined to 
prepare a foundation for the vast fabric which was subsequently to be 
erected upon it. 



CHAPTER X. 
MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA 

Eussia's Historical Development — New Races of Men — The Tartar Invasion — ^Alexander 
Nevsky — Value of Diplomacy with Force — ^Mingling of Tartars with Russians — 
Blood Tax — The Mongol Yoke — The Rise and Fall of Lithuania — Shares the Fate 
of Poland. 

jURING the twelfth and thirteenth centuries a series of three great 
invasions occurred which were destined to modify the historical 
development of Russia, and three new races of men were to make them- 
selves felt for all time upon the nation. The Russians of the Northwest 
were destined to become Germanized, while Russia of the East and 
South made the acquaintance of the Tartar-Mongols, and Western 
Russia with the Lithuanians. 

The Evolution of a Race. 

Lithuania, if we may name a country from its people, was a not very 
clearly defined region of central Europe. It extended from the south- 
eastern shore of the Baltic sea between the mouth of the river Vistula 
and the Duna southward through a region now comprised within mod- 
ern Prussia, parts of Poland and the Western Russian province. The 
region consisted, in a great part, of a flat, marshy, wooded country, with 
many lakes. These people were divided into tribes, and they continue 
under various names to occupy the same territory in which they lived at 
the beginning of history. Their origin is unknown. Their principal 
branch has given its name to modern Prussia. 

The Livonians were a tribe also living upon the Baltic farther to 
the north and were of Finnish origin. This region was considered by 
the Russian princes and republics of the northwest as subject to their 
dominion. A son of Vladimir, Monomachus, had conquered a portion 

126 



MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. . 127 

of the territory, but German merchants and Latin missionaries appeared 
upon the shores of the Baltic, even pressing toward the north and east, 
and the country fell temporarily under the influence of the Church of 
Rome. 

The monk, Meinhard, sent by the Archbishop of Bremen, converted 
the Livonians, and was created Bishop of Livonia, but under the cloak 
of Christianity the Germans really brought to the Baltic tribes the ruin 
of their national independence. The German m^erchant and the German 
missionary cam.e together, and the apostle Meinhard built a church and 
a fortress at Uexkull in 1187. From this day these tribes lost their lands 
and their liberty, and soon saw to what this mission was leading. They 
rose against the missionaries, and, in 1198, the Bishop of Livonia lost 
his life on the battlefield. The natives returned to their pagan gods and 
plunged into the Dwina to wash off the baptism which they had re- 
ceived. 

The Sword Bearers. 

Pope Innocent III., hearing the direful news of what had happened 
in the north, preached a crusade against them, and Albert of Buxhewden, 
their third bishop, and the father of German authority in Livonia, ap- 
peared upon the scene with a fleet of twenty-three ships and built the 
town of Riga, which became his capital in the year 1200. Next year he 
installed the order of the Brothers of the Army of Christ, or the "Sword- 
Bearers," to whom the bishop gave the statutes of the Templars. They 
wore a white mantle with a red cross on the shoulders. Most of these 
knights were Westphalians and Saxons ; Vinno Rohrbach was their first 
Grand Master. 

The Livonians, terrified at the impending crisis, appealed for help to 
the Princes of Polotsk, and marched bravely to attack the crusaders at 
Riga and suffered signal defeat. This was in the year 1206. The 
Princes of Polotsk, however, came upon the field and laid siege to the 
city during the absence of the bishop, but it was saved from capture 
1)}^ the timely arrival of a German fleet. There were various causes 
which led to the success of the "Knights of the Sword." In the first 



128 MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

place, the internal quarrels at Novgorod prevented this powerful city 
from vi^atching over Russian interest as she should have done in keep- 
ing v^^ith her claims to pov^er and dignity among Slavonian capitals. 

Again the Princes of Polotsk, who came forward as the chief cham- 
pions of the Livonians, were a weak set. Again many of the Slavonic 
tribes failed to do their duty against the invaders, on account of not 
having yet come to a realization of their proper relations to the nation 
as a whole. 

Under German Authority. 

The knights were also far superior in arms and military science. 
The German fortresses were solidly built of hewn stone, while those of 
the natives were simply rude pits, surrounded by earth and loose stones. 
While they showed ample bravery, they vainly tried with their rude 
appliances to pull down the walls and palisades of the invaders. 

A little later the "Sword Bearers" assumed the offensive and pushed 
farther, by a series of campaigns, into the Russian country. They 
defeated the Livonians and Semgalli of the Dwina, the Tchouds of the 
north and the Letts to the southeast. If a tribe declined baptism and 
submission it was delivered over to destruction by fire and sword. 
When it submitted, hostages were taken, fortified castles were built 
upon commanding places in its territory, or old fortresses were rehabil- 
itated under German occupancy. In this manner Riga, Kircholm, Creuz- 
burg and other strongholds were built on the Dwina, and Neuhausen, 
Wolmar, Wenden, Kremon, Fellin, and Weissenstein, among other im- 
portant places, were established in various parts of the conquered ter- 
ritory. 

In the North, Kolyvan, the modern Revel, was purchased from the 
King of Denmark to the intense outrage of the Finnish pride, because 
it was the site of the grave of the chief hero of their mythology. The 
country was divided into counties, some of which belonged to the order 
^of the "Sword Bearers," by whom they were distributed among the 
knights, and the rest fell to the share of the Archbishop. The new 
towns received constitutions like the merchant cities of Lnbeck, Bremen 
and Hamburg, the chief of which was Riga. 












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HOSPITAL SUPPLIES 



WAITING FOR ORDERS 



SCENES OF RUSSIAN ARMY LIFE IN MANCHURIA 

From photographs taken by the author, J.JVIartin Miller. 

Copyright, /90/, by J. Martin Miller. 





JAPANESE TRANSPORTATION METHODS. 

The pack saddle consiBts of two padded sides joined by an iron arch. The packacres 
are tied to or hung upon the saddle. 



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JAPANESE INFANTRY ON THE MARCH. 

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1. Brig. Gen. Henry T. Allen, 
Chief of Constabulary, Phil- 
ippine Islands. 

4. Captain Carl Reiehman, 
17th Infantry. 

7. Captain J. E. Kuhn, Corps 
of Ensineei-s. 



UNITED STATES MILITARY ATTACHES, 

Lieut. -Col. Oliver E. Wood. 
Military Attache, Tokio, Ja- 



Col. John B. Kerr, General 
Staff, U. S. Army. 



."(. Captain Andre W. Brew- 
ster, 9th Infantry. 

8. Capt. Wm. V. .Tudson, En- 
gineer of Corps, T'. S. A. 



pan. 

6. Capt. Seaton Schroeder. 
U. S. N., Chief Intelligence 
Officer. 

9. Maior W. D. Beach. 10th 
Cavalry, Chief Bureau Mili- 
tary Intelligence. 



MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 129 

Still the invaders had troubles of their own. The Archbishop of 
Riga and the Grand Master of the Order often quarreled over their 
respective rights, and thus v^as laid the foundation for dissensions 
destined to bring about the decline of the institution. 

The Inhabitants Become Serfs. 

About the year 1225 another military brotherhood was established 
among the Prussian Lithuanians called the Teutonic Order, which built 
the cities of Thorn, Marienburg, Elbing and Koenigsberg. Their em- 
blem was a black cross, and they appear always to have been friendly 
with the red cross knights, the object of both being, principally, plunder. 
The two orders united in 1237 and became one association, the grand 
master of the Teutonic Order taking precedence over all the others. 

In the meantime the original Baltic tribes of Livonians, Letts and 
Finns became serfs, being attached to the land after the manner of the 
Saxons of England under the Norman conquerors. • 

The Tartar Invasion. 

The thirteenth century was signalized in Russian history by a greater 
event than any which had preceded it. This was the Tartar invasion. 
The country was overrun and subjugated by Asiatic hordes. This fatal 
event contributed quite as much as the disadvantage of soil and climate 
to retard her development by many centuries. 

Writing of this catastrophe the Russian chronicler says : "In those 
times there came upon us for our sins unknown nations. No one could 
tell their origin, whence they came, what religion they professed. God 
alone knows who they were, God, and, perhaps, wise men learned in 
books." 

The Asiatic invasion was a terror to the whole of Europe. The 
Russians bore the first shock of those mysterious foemen at whom the 
Pope leveled bulls, and who were reputed to be the Gog and Magog 
who were to come at the end of the world, when Antichrist was to 
overwhelm everything with the blast of destruction. The Tatas, or 
Tatars or Tartars, as they have been variously called, seem to have 



130 MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

been a tribe of the great Mongol race, dwelling in the highlands of 
Central Asia, who had frequently laid waste vast regions of China in 
the course of repeated invasions. 

They were a nomadic people, by occupation shepherds, who wan- 
dered ceaselessly from one pasture to another and from river to river. 
They had no walled towns, and were unacquainted with writing and 
books. Their relations with other nations were governed by unstable 
oral treaties. They were reared from infancy on horseback and from 
childhood were at constant practice with the brow and the javelin. 

In fact, from what we know of them, their history and character 
would apply tolerably well to the Sioux Indians of the United States. 
They had neither religious ceremonies nor judicial institutions. They 
were strictly carnivorous. The flesh and skins of their animals supplied 
them with the prime necessities of life. They had no respect for any- 
thing but force. 

Customs and Methods of Warfare. 

They had some social institutions particularly shocking to Europeans 
even in that age of uncertain morality. It was said that when the father 
of a family died his sons married his youngest wives. A Mussulman 
author furnishes us the information that they worshiped the sun and 
practiced polygamy and community of wives. The most important in- 
terest with them was the growing of grass, and they named their months 
according to the different aspects of the prairie. In war they used no 
infantry and were ignorant of the art of sieges. 

A Chinese writer says : "When they wished to take a town they 
fell on the suburban villages. Each leader seizes ten men, and every 
prisoner is forced to carry a certain quantity of wood, stones and other 
materials. They use these for filling up moats or digging trenches. In 
the capture of a town the loss of ten thousand men was thought noth- 
ing. No place could resist them. 

After a siege all of the population was massacred without distinction 
of old or young, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, those who resisted or 
who yielded; no distinguished person escaped death if a defense was 
attempted." 



MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 131 

Genghis Khan the Leader. 

It was these hordes, first amalgamated and mobilized by the genius 
of Genghis-Khan, who terrified the continent from Pekin to the Crimea 
in the 13th century. Genghis-Khan, the evil genius of this race of ma- 
rauders, was the son of a petty Mongolian prince born in Tartary in 
1 163. After much intestine warfare with various tribes this renowned 
conqueror was proclaimed Khan of the United Mongol people. He reor- 
ganized his army, made for himself a set of laws and prepared for a 
course of conquest to which he professed he had a divine call. In 1210 
he first invaded China, the capital of which was taken by storm and 
plunder several years later. 

He sent ambassadors to Turkestan and unfortunately they were 
murdered, which gave the Tartar despot an excuse for turning his con- 
quests toward the West. He invaded this country in 1218 with an army 
said to comprise 700,000 men. He appeared in due time before the great 
cities of Bokhara and Samarcand, which were stormed, pillaged, burned, 
and more than 200,000 lives destroyed. He continued his operations for 
several years and in 1225, although more than sixty years old, he turned 
about and marched in person at the head of his army against Tangut, 
whose king had sheltered two of his enemies and refused to surrender 
them. 

A great battle was fought on plains of ice formed by a frozen lake, 
in which the King of Tangut was totally defeated with a loss of, it is 
said, 300,000 men. His forces also overran Manchuria, all of Northern 
China, and when he died he left to his four sons the largest Empire that 
ever existed, except possibly that of Edward VII of Great Britain. 

The Empire was divided into four parts, having been established by 
its founder at a cost, it has been said, of not less than 5,000,000 lives. 

His death occurred in 1227, in the sixty-fourth year of his age, and 
the 52nd of his reign. 

The Call to Arms. 

It was during the campaign of Genghis-Khan against Bokhara that 
his lieutenants Tchepe and Souboudai-Bagadour turned toward the 
northwest, overrunning a multitude of peoples, and passing the Caspian 



132 MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

Sea by its southern shore, invaded Georgia and the Caucasus and in the 
southern steppes of Russia came in contact with the Slavic army. Their 
first contest w^as with the Polovosti, a tribe not yet Christianized, being 
upon the confines of Russia proper; but terrorized by the onward course 
of the Tartar hordes, they called upon the Christian princes for help. 

Mstislas the Bold, at that time the Prince of Galitch, persuaded all 
the dynasties of Southern Russia to take up arms against the Tartars. 
His nephew, Daniel, the Prince of Volhynia, Mstislaf Romanovitch, the 
Grand Prince of Kief, Oleg of Korsk, the Prince of Tchernigof, Valdimir 
of Somelnsk, and Vsevolod at that time Prince of Novodlod, responded 
to his appeal. To make sure of his alliance with the Russians and as an 
evidence of sincerity in the common cause Basti the Prince of Polvostki 
joined the orthodox Russian Church. The Russian army had already ar- 
rived on the lower Dnieper when the Tartar ambassadors put in an ap- 
pearance. 

They are reported to have said "we come by God's command against 
our slaves and servants, the accursed Polovosti. Be at peace with us. 
We have no quarrel with you," The Russians promptly put the ambas- 
sadors to death. 

Overwhelming Disaster. 

They then advanced into the steppe and encountered the Asiatics on 
the Kalka, a small river running into the Sea of Azof. Unfortunately for 
the Christians, there was lack of a supreme commander who could hold 
in check the hot-headed princes from the various cities, each of whom 
desired to gain all the honors of the battle for himself; and thus disaster 
overwhelmed the whole. 

As our own Custer, at the Litle Big Horn, thought he would rout 
the entire nation of Sioux warriors under Chief Gall and Sitting Bull 
without sharing the glory with anyone else, so Daniel of Galitch, Mstis- 
las the Bold, and Oleg, each on his own account, drove headlong into 
the Tartar hosts, only to be swallowed up and annihilated with the 
flower of their chivalry. The combat had no sooner become general 
than the Polovosti were seized with a panic and fell back in confusion 
upon the Russian main army, throwing it into disorder. 



MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 133 

A general rout was the inevitable result. As the valor of the intrepid 
Knights of France at Crecy and Poictiers wrought their own ruin, so 
the Russian princes had made an exhibition of bravery at fearful cost 
to their country. About nine-tenths of the Christian army were slaught- 
ered, the Prince of Kief alone leaving ten thousand dead upon the field. 

A Forlorn Hope. 

The Grand Prince of Kief, Mstislas Romanovitch, had escaped and 
still occupied a fortified camp on the banks of the Kalka. Abandoned 
by the rest of the army he attempted still to make a brave defense. The 
Tartar leaders offered to make terms by the payment of a ransom for 
himself and his army. He capitulated, therefore, and the conditions 
were at once violated. His guard was massacred and he and his two 
sons-in-law were smothered to death, while the Tartars held a grand 
celebration over their dead bodies. This was in 1224. The Tartars did 
not at this time follow up their victory but returned toward the east, 
nothing more being heard of them. 

For the next thirteen years while the Tartars were busy finishing up 
the conquest of China, the Russian princes turned to the cutting of each 
others throats, and certain princes of the north who had looked on while 
the southern brethren were slaughtered by the Asiatics were marked 
for punishment for their impious conduct. The Mongols were forgotten. 

All sorts of disaster overwhelmed the country. There was famine and 
pestilence, incendiarism in the towns, and the people were further terri- 
fied in their superstition by the great comet of 1224 and the ecHpse of the 
sun which occurrd in 1230. 

A Brave Defiance. 

In 1237 the Tartars came on again, led by Bati, the nephew of Oktai, 
one of the sons of Genghis-Khan. A Khirgiz tribe, falling back before 
the advancing hordes, took refuge in the land of the Bulgarians of the 
Volga, giving warning of the new irruption from Asia. This time it was 
not the South Russians who were immediately threatened by the Souzdal 
princes. 



134 MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

The Tartars swept on, overrunning the Volgas who, up to this time, 
had been the ancient enemies of Russia, but who now made common 
cause with her in her ruin by the Mongol hordes. Their chief city was 
given up to the flames and her inhabitants were put to the sword. The 
invaders moved westward into the forests of the Volga and sent envoys 
to the Princes of Riazan. 

The three Princes of Riazan and those of Pronsk, Kolomna, Mos- 
cow and Moroum advanced to meet them. 

"If you want peace," said the Tartars, "give us the tenth of your 
goods." 

"When we are dead," replied the Russian princes, "you can have it 
all." 

Although abandoned by the Princes of Tchernigof and the Grand 
Prince George II, of whom they had implored and anticipated help, the 
Princes of Riazan stoutly gave battle, resolving to accept the unequal 
struggle. They were completely defeated, nearly all of the princes being 
killed on the field of battle. 

This unfortunate affair has furnished the romantic literature of Rus- 
sia with many stories. It is told how Feodor preferred to die rather 
than see his young wife Euphrasia carried off a prisoner by Bati, and 
how on learning his fate, she threw herself and her son from a window. 
Oleg the Handsome, found still alive on the field of battle, refused the 
attentions of the Tartar chief and was cut to pieces. 

The Tartars Everywhere Victorious. 

Riazan was sacked after being taken by assault and all the towns 
of the principality met the same fate. 

The Souzdalian Prince George now came forward and sent an army 
commanded by his son, who met the invaders at Kolomna on the Oka. 
The Tartars burned Moscow and then besieged the Vladimir on the 
Kaliazma, which George II had abandoned to seek help in the North. 
His two sons were charged with the defense of the capital. The princes 
and knights of the aristocratic houses, certain that there was no alter- 
native but death or slavery, prepared to fight to the end. 



MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. ' 135 

The women and the nobles prayed the Bishop to give them the ton- 
sure and when the Tartars pushed into the town by all its gates the 
conquered Russians, fighting to the last, fell back into the cathedral, 
where they were slaughtered, men, women and children, in the midst 
of a general conflagration. Fourteen towns and a multitude of villages 
in the grand principality were given over to the flame by the end of 
the year 1238. 

The Tartar commander then went to seek the Grand Prince himself 
who was encamped on the Sit, almost on the frontier of the possessions of 
Novgorod. He in turn was defeated with the same dire story of blood 
and disaster which had marked the course of the Asiatics from the 
beginning. 

The Tartars now advanced upon Novgorod Itself, but here at last 
the elements combined to aid the hard-pressed Russians and, baffled by 
swollen rivers and endless marshes, the Invaders turned back to the 
southeast when fifty miles away from the ancient capital. 

The Tartars then spent two years, 1239 and 1240, in ravaging South- 
ern Russia, burning Pereiaslaf and Tchernigof in spite of desperate de- 
fense by the Russian princes. 

The Sack of Kief. 

Next Mangou, a grandson of Genghis-Khan, marched against Kief. 
From the left bank of the Dnieper the barbarian beheld the great city 
on the heights on the opposite side towering over the wide river with 
her white walls and towers built like a lesser Constantinople. The city 
contained Innumerable churches with domes, shining with gold and 
silver. 

It is said that even the savage leaders hesitated at the devastation of 
so beautiful a place, and proposed capitulation, but the fate of the capi- 
tals of other powerful principalities filled the people with apprehension 
and they hesitated as to the best course to pursue. Still they had the 
temerity to put to death Mangou's ambassadors. Michael, their grand 
prince, fled, and his rival, Daniel of Galitch, followed suit. 

Upon receiving the report of Mangou, BatI, the chief commander, 
came In person to the assault of Kief with the bulk of his army. 



136 MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

A Russian annalist, speaking of this event, says: "The grinding of 
the wooden chariots, the bellowing of the buffaloes, the cries of the cam- 
els, the neighing of the horses, the howlings of the Tartars rendered it 
impossible to hear your own voice in the town." 

The invaders assailed the Polish gate and knocked down the walls 
with battering rams. The Kievans supported by Dimitri, a famous Gal- 
lician knight, defended the breach to nightfall, and then retreated to one 
of the principal churches which they surrounded by pahsades. 

Here the last remnant, gathered round the tomb of Jaroslaf, perished 
the next day. The Tartar commander spared the life of the gallant 
leader of the city's defenders, but the next day the "Mother of Russian 
cities" was sacked for the third time in its history. 

Even the tombs were rifled. St. Sophia and the Monastery of the 
Catacombs were delivered over to be plundered. This disaster occurred 
in the year 1240. 

Sent into Captivity. 

All of Russia practically, had now been devastated except Volhynia 
and Gallicia and Novgorod in the Northwest. The two former soon fell 
under the Tartar yoke, and hundreds of thousands of Russians were 
dragged into captivity. The Russian Chronicle of the day says, "men 
saw wives of the aristocrats who had never known work, who, a short 
time before, had been clothed in rich garments, adorned with jewels and 
collars of gold, surrounded with slaves, now reduced to be themselves 
slaves of barbarians and their wives, turning the wheel of the mill ahd 
preparing their coarse food." 

Karminsin, the Russian historian, in reviewing the causes which led 
to the complete defeat of the Russian nation, says: "Though the Tar- 
tars were not more advanced from a military point of view than the 
Russians, who had made war in Greece and in the West against the 
most warlike and civilized people of Europe, yet they had to face an 
enormous superiority in numbers. Bati had with him probably not less 
than 500,000 warriors. This immense army moved like one man. It 
could successfully annihilate the successive forces of the princes or the 
militia of the towns which only presented themselves piecemeal to its 



MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 137 

blows. The Tartars had found Russia divided against herself as the 
result of the fatal policy of Vladimir the Great, who had erected the 
principalities. Even though Russia had wished to form a solid confed- 
eration, the certain irruption of an army en.tirely composed of horsemen 
did not leave her time. 

Flushed with Victory. 

In the tribes ruled by Bati every man was a soldier, while in Russia 
the nobles and citizens alone bore arms, while the peasants who formed 
the bulk of the population allowed themselves to be stabbed or bound 
without resistance. It was not a weak nation by which Russia was con- 
quered. 

The Tartar-Mongols under Ghengis-Khan had filled the East with 
the glory of their name, and subdued nearly all Asia. They arrived, 
proud of their exploits, animated by the recollection of a hundred vic- 
tories and reinforced by numerous peoples whom they had vanquished 
and hurried with them to the west. 

The Princes of Galitch, Volhymia and Kief fled, fugitives to Poland 
and Hungary, and all Europe was terror-stricken with' the news they 
brought. The Pope of Rome, whose support had been claimed by the 
Prince of Galitch, summoned all Christendom to arms. 

Louis IX prepared for a crusade. Frederick II, as Emperor, wrote 
to the sovereigns as follows : "This is the moment to open the eyes of 
body and soul, now that the brave princes on whom we reckoned are 
dead or in slavery." 

The Tartars invaded Hungary and gave battle to the Poles at 
Liegnitz in Silesia. Their onward march was arrested for a con- 
siderable time by the defense of Olmutz in Moravia and finally stopped, 
they learning that a large army under the King of Bohemia and the 
Dukes of Austria and Corinthia was advancing to meet them. 

Effect upon Russian History. 

The report of the death of Oktai, the second Emperor of the United 
Tartars, recalled Bati from the west, and in retracing his steps his huge 
army necessarily wasted avv^ay to a great extent. They had found the 



138 MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

broken country of Central Europe more difficult than the plains of Rus- 
sia, and a foe better organized and better equipped, while led by Chris- 
tian knights of the most distinguished valor. They had fought disor- 
ganized Russians at the Kalka, at Kolomna and at the Sit, but the Poles, 
Silesians, Bohemians and Moravians, whom they met at Liegnitz and 
Olmutz had not been such easy prey. The consequence was that only 
in Russian history did the invasion produce great results. The chief 
result was to give a taint of the Tartar character to Russia henceforth. 

When Bati had fallen back to the lower Volga he built a city called 
Sarai, which he made the capital of a Tartar Empire which he called 
the Golden Horde, whose territories extended from the Ural and the 
Caspian to the mouth of the Danube. Within its confines he embraced 
not only the Tartar tribes but all the survivors of the invasion together 
with various Turkish nations who began to lose their nomadic character 
and to settle in a fixed abode. The first three successois of Genghis- 
Khan were recognized as the head of this new Empire until 1260, when 
the Golden Horde became an independent state. 

About this time the Tartars, who had been pagans when they en- 
tered Russia, embraced the faith of Islam, and in 1273 were counted 
among its most formidable adherents. 

A Noble Figure. 

In the meantime through all the gloom and turmoil of Russian his- 
tory, one figure loomed up as a great sovereign in the person of Alex- 
ander Nevsky. He made war upon the Swedes and Germans and Lithu- 
anians who had fallen upon Western Russia tottering under the blow 
dealt by the Tartars. He began a policy of conciliation toward the 
Great Khan, making three journeys into Asia with this object in view. 
He came to the throne to find his country devastated with the Golden 
Llorde in power in the South, while his Teutonic enemies pressed him 
on the west. 

Alexander made his capital at Novgorod and was as brave as he was 
intelligent. He was the hero of the North, who, though so beset on 
every hand, managed to vanquish the Scandinavians and the Livonian 



MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 139; 

Knights, but he was compelled to make an obeisance at the feet of the 
Asiatic barbarians. He comprehended that in the presence of this im- 
mense and brutal force of Mongols, all resistance was madness. To 
brave them was to complete the overthrow of Russia. His conduct may 
not have been chivalrous but it was wise, politic and humane. The result 
was that through his management Novgorod was the only principality 
in Russia which kept its independence, and he gave the first lesson which 
has been followed by Russian monarchs down to the present day for 
dealing with the Asiatic by a combination of force, tempered by the wiles 
of diplomacy. 

He went so far as to pay tribute to the great Khan as the price of 
freedom. This was done in the face of bitter opposition on the part of 
his people who resisted the Tartar impost, and while Alexander himself, 
overcoming his scruples, went to Sarai to prostrate himself before the 
Ruler of the Golden Horde, Providence smiled upon his arms by a signal 
victory over the Swedes. 

A National Hero. - 

The health of Alexander broke down and he died upon his way home ; 
his death being announced while the people were celebrating their vic- 
tory. He at once became the national hero and it was recognized that by 
his victories over his enemies in the West he had at least given one 
glory to his country and had hindered her from despairing under the 
most cruel tyranny, material and moral, which the European people had 
ever suffered. His death occurred in 1262 in the midst of the darkest 
hour of national calamity, relieved only by his diplomacy on the one hand 
and his victories on the other. 

The Mongol yoke, while heavy, had not suppressed altogether Rus- 
sian institutions and, in fact, the Tartars did not introduce any direct 
political change. They left to each principality her laws, her courts 
of justice and her native chiefs, Andrew Bogolioubski continued to rule 
in Souzdal, and Daniel Romanovitch in Galitch, while the Olgovitches 
remained at the head of their people in Tchernigof. Novgorod, with its 
republican institutions, was allowed to continue to expel and recall 



I40 MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

princes, and the dynasties of the South were left to fight over the throne 
of Kief. 

The Russians found themselves in the position of a tributary nation 
with their own local government practically undisturbed. The people 
continued in possession of their lands on which their nomad conquerors 
encamped on the steppes, regarding such property with disdain. They 
cared only for herds of camels and buffalos, their droves of horses and 
flocks of goats. They wanted the grass but not the ground. 

Origin of Muscovite Power. 

The obligations of the vanquished races and their relations with their 
conquerors were limited by periodical acknowledgment of their sub- 
mission and, when it suited the conqueror's pleasure, the opportunity 
of judging the merits of their disputes by their princes going not only to 
the Khan of the Golden Horde, but also frequently to the Grand Khan 
at the extremity of Asia on the Amoor. They met there the chiefs of 
the Mongol Tartar, Thibetan and Bokharian hordes and sometimes 
the Kaliph of Bagdad, or even legates of the Pope or the King of France. 
The Grand Khan held a high court where he tried to play off against 
each other these ambassadors from Europe who met to do him rever- 
ence. The insolent ambition of the Grand Khan knew no bounds. He 
desired at one time that the King of France should recognize him as 
Master of the World. This long road to the seat of the Mongol Empire 
was strewn with bones of ambassadors, and few who went ever returned. 

The conquered people were obliged to pay a capitation tax which 
weighed as heavily upon the poor as on the rich. This tribute was paid 
either in money or in furs, or, if they refused, those who failed became 
slaves. To make matters worse the Khan for some time farmed out 
this revenue to merchants of Khiva who collected it with the utmost 
severity and who were protected by strong guards to put down revolts 
should the people prove obstinate. 

Thus in 1264, in 1284, in 1318, in 1327, the inhabitants of various cit- 
ies felt to their cost the heavy arm ready to strike them in case of any 
attempt at insurrection against the usurper. Later the princes of Mos- 



MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 141 

cow themselves farmed not only the tax from their own subjects but 
also from the neighboring countries, becoming the farmers-general of 
the invaders; in fact, this was the origin of the power and riches of 
the Muscovite princes. 

Mingling o£ the Races. 

In addition to the tribute above mentioned, the Russians had to fur- 
nish to their master a blood tax in the shape of a military force and in 
the thirteenth century we find that the Russian princes furnished to the 
Tartars a solid infantry — an arm of service which the Tartars themselves 
did not possess, having been brought up solely as cavalrymen. 

These contingents were even placed under the command of the 
princes themselves who were obliged to march at their head and take 
part in the expeditions of the Grand Khan against various tribes which 
rebelled against his sway in different parts of Asia upon the confines of 
his empire. Worse yet, these forces were often called upon to assist 
the Tartars to put down rebellious princes in Russia itself. Thus it will 
be seen the depths to which the Russian national pride was being 
humbled throughout half a dozen generations. 

On the other hand the blood of the two races was in the meantime 
being mingled by matrimonial alliances, which became very common. 
In this respect the princes on both sides set the example to their sub- 
jects. The Asiatic shepherds, therefore, could not help being more or 
less influenced by Slavic manners, traditions and rehgion. 

Thus the fierce penalties by flogging, mutilation or death at the stake, 
which the Asiatics brought to Europe, and, also, such arts and customs 
as they found in Russia became common to a great extent to the mingled 
progeny of the conquerors and their subjects. 

Still the two races did not become thoroughly unified, and, in many 
particulars, continued to the end of the Mongolian conquest to be en- 
tirely separate from each other in the matter of social habits and re- 
ligious opinions. This arises chiefly, no doubt, from the fact that while 
the Russians continued to be Christians, the pagans instead of accepting 
their faith were gradually becoming Mohammedans. 



142 MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

The Lithuanian Conquest. 

The picture of Russia at this period would not be complete without 
a glance at the Lithuanian conquest, reaching into the 15th century. 
These people of very early Persian origin had been badly broken up by 
successive conflicts with the Germans, but they had maintained them- 
selves throughout the turmoil of the dark ages, until, finally, at the 
beginning of the thirteenth century, they had been united through the 
influence of a prince named Minvog, who had come to power through 
the usual process of the extermination of his rivals. 

Encouraged by the Mongol invasions he made war upon Western 
Russia until stopped as we have seen before, by Alexander Nevsky, who 
saved Novgorod from the Asiatics on the one hand and the Lithuanians 
on the other. Defeated by this great prince, he had appealed to the Pope 
and secured the assistance of the Teutonic knights. He embraced Chris- 
tianity and was consecrated King of Lithuania. The danger passed, 
Rome was forgotten and the country fell back into anarchy under his 
descendants. The real founder of her power rose in the early part of 
the fourteenth century under Gedimin and he turned the exhaustion and 
division to his profit. He attacked Tchernigof and Volhynia, defeating 
the Russians aided by an auxiliary of Tartars, in 1321. Kief soon after 
soon fell under his power although it is not certain in what year this oc- 
curred, the annals of this age of universal disorder not being clear. 

Whatever the exact date may have been this ancient city was des- 
tined to remain for four hundred years, or down to the time of Alexis 
Romanoff, in the hands of strangers. 

A New Master. 

The Russian population willingly received this new master who would 
free them from the heavy yoke of the Mongols, and never-ending civil 
wars. As he respected their internal constitution and the rights of the 
orthodox clergy it appears that many towns readily opened their gates 
to him. Gedimin sought to realize his conquests by contracting alliances 
with the house of St. Vladimir, allowed his sons to embrace the ortho- 



MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 143 

dox faith, and authorized the construction of Greek churches in his resi- 
dences at Wilna and other seats. 

He had a perpetual struggle to sustain himself in the North against 
his deadly enemies, the military monks of Prussia and Livonia, but, like 
his predecessors, he addressed himself to the Pope, John XXII, and 
informed him that he wished to preserve his independence and that he 
only asked protection for his religion, being surrounded by Franciscans 
and Dominicans to whom he gave full liberty to teach their doctrines. 
He promised also to recognize the Pope as the supreme head of the 
church if he would save him from the Germans. This Pope being a 
Frenchman lent ready assistance. 

Dies a Pagan. 

He had already been compelled, by the hostilities successfully waged 
by the Germans, to fall back to Wilna, where he established himself 
in a citadel and began by diplomacy to build around him a city as the 
seat of his strength. 

By offering immunities to German artisans and by granting them the 
rights given to towns under the Hanseatic League he stimulated com- 
merce; he also established a Russian quarter in his capital. However, 
in spite of his intimacy with the Pope he died and was buried according 
to pagan rites, his body being burned in a caldron with his horse and 
his favorite groom. After his death his sons Olgerd and Kestout de- 
prived their two other brothers of their properties and dignities, and 
together governed Lithuania down to 1337. Olgerd was greatly incensed 
against Novgorod because one of his fugitive brothers had found asylum 
there and he ravaged her territory and forced her to put to death the 
burgomaster whom he charged with being the cause of the war. He 
extended his possessions to the East and South, becoming master of 
nearly all the valley of Dnieper, obtaining a footing on the coast of the 
Black Sea between the mouths of the Dnieper and Dniester. 

The Passing of a Nation. 

The Poles disputed with him for the possession of Volhynia, oppres- 
sing the orthodox faith and finally changing the Greek into Latin 



144 MEDIAEVAL RUSSIA. 

churches. He even attompted the conquest of Moscow and had it not 
been that he was unable to shake off the Poles and the two German 
orders who constantly harassed him he might have made the conquest 
of Eastern Russia, having in 1368 annihilated the Mongol hordes of the 
lower Dnieper and completed the ruin of the Crimea. A succession of 
wars in which Russia was practically powerless was waged up to 1430, 
during which period the Lithuanian princes were the chief actors and 
the heads of the rival churches of Rome and Constantinople were partici- 
pants in the struggle for ecclesiastical supremacy. 

With this date Lithuania ceased to be a first-class power and it was 
b}^ turn governed by a Grand Duke of its own, united with Poland, sep- 
arated again, and finally placed under Polish rule in 1501. Henceforward 
it shared the fate of Poland, until, in modern times, Its last trace as a 
political entity has disappeared by being inverted in the partition be- 
tween Russia, Germany and Austria. 



CHAPTER XI, 
THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY 

The Corner-stone of the Russian Empire — Early History — The Princes of Moscow — A New 
Dynasty — Vvars between the Muscovite and the Tartar — ^Historic Battle on the Dons- 
koi River — Dimitri Donskoi — Tamerlane — The Vassilli — The Birth of Russia — Ivan 
the Great — A Notable Reign. 

IN THE previous chapter we have gone to some length In explaining 
the bloody events which attended the conquest of almost all Russia 
by the Mongol Asiatics. 

What the Term Asiatic Means. 

In speaking of Asiatics it should be borne in mind that we have al- 
luded by this term to the Tartar or Mongolian inhabitant of the vast 
regions north of the Himalayan Mountains and to the north and east, 
generally speaking, of the Turkoman and Persion regions, which pro- 
duced entirely different races of peoples, principally the Indo-European 
or Perso-Indian races from which the white people of Europe are de- 
rived, and the Semite tribes to which belong the Jews and Arabs. 

Perhaps this explanation may be useful in avoiding confusion when 
speaking of the detested Mongol Tartars as Asiatics. At the present 
time the descendant and consanguineous- races of Chinese and Japanese 
are also called Asiatics, making the same distinction between them and 
the other peoples of Southwestern Asia, above alluded to, namely the 
East Indians and the Semites. 

Victor Hugo has said some place that the events of history repeat 
themselves with geometric certainty. Without going into a discussion 
of this proposition thus tersely stated by the great French philosopher 
and novelist, we may at least be sure that in a general way things that 

145 



146 THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 

have happened are not unlikely in the lapse of a long period of time, 
under favorable circumstances, to happen again. Perhaps this may look 
like begging the question. 

Without wishing to be an alarmist let us make a hypothesis and leave 
the conclusion to posterity. 

A Modern Problem. 

Suppose an Asiatic leader of the pre-eminent qualities of Genghis- 
Khan at the head of a brave, patriotic, energetic nucleus-nation of Mon- 
golian blood. Suppose that instead of becoming masters of the plains 
by means of an immense and efficient horde of cavalrymen, we have great 
adaptability for the sea, and a final rise to naval supremacy over other 
nations on the same continent. Suppose that this pre-eminence and 
native force should be accompanied b}^ skill in organization and in the 
amalgamation of other peoples of kindred blood, all being endowed with 
a genius for self-preservation, with habits of industry and possessing a 
large food-producing territory with unlimited numbers of men among a 
vassal nation from which to draw and equip armies. Suppose that this 
great power, thus created, should have a practically similar religion, and 
be of an entirely distinct and non-mingling race, so far as the rest of 
the world is concerned. 

We leave the answer to this puzzle to be considered, in view of the 
Mongol invasion of six hundred years ago and the possibilities of modern 
events. So much in retrospect. 

The Rise of the Russian Empire. 

We shall now consider briefly the rise of United Russia as it has 
come down to us today, based as it was upon the Muscovite dynasty as 
a corner stone. 

Throughout the long, turbulent generations which marked the devel- 
opment of Russia as a whole we find a constant mingling of strife by 
rival military leaders and activities which had their origin in the heads 
of the different divisions of Christianity, namely the Roman Catholics, 
Greek Catholics and Protestants. 



THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 147 

The ecclesiastic and military chieftain were equally vigilant and 
strenuous in their efforts to shape the political events of the middle 
ages. The student of the history of these times must above all keep his 
eye upon the Pope of Rome. In common with the rest of Europe, Rus- 
sia did not escape from the struggles for supremacy between the great 
prelates of those centuries. 

Eastern and Western Russia. 

We have noticed the Lithuanian conquest which created Western 
Russia with a capital at Wilna, while the rest of the country which es- 
caped from this influence centered around Moscow, which at an early 
day became the eastern capital. Eastern Russia was subject, in a re- 
ligious sense, to the Orthodox-Greek Church, while Western Russia had 
three religions, Greek, Roman and Protestant. 

The result was a natural antagonism between the eastern and west- 
ern division of the country, the former being practically a political vas- 
sal of the Great Khan. A race was formed around Moscow under the 
Mongol yoke, patient and resigned, yet energetic and enterprising, bound 
in the long run to get the upper hand of the western princes, notwith- 
standing their genius for politics, their valor and pitiless cruelty. 

The princes of Moscow gained their ends by intrigue, corruption, 
the purchases of conscience, servility to the Khans, perfidy to their 
equals, murder and treachery. 

The above stigma has been put upon them by another writer, but it 
is well deserved. They, however, did create the germ of the Russian 
power and caused it to grow, so that henceforward we have a fixed cen- 
ter around which gathers that scattered history of Russia which we have 
been trying to follow through the previous pages. 

Heretofore we have dealt with Novgorod, Smolensk, Tchernigof, 
Kief, the City of Vladimir and other lesser capitals, each the center of a 
warring principality. Still the masceration, so to speak, of these lesser 
Russian states by submission to the Mongols on the one hand, and the 
Lithuanians, tended in the end to the levelmg of all things, and to the 
preparation for the work of organization into a national solidarity. 



148 THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 

In a country thus humiliated and prostrated a potent dynasty such 
as rose in Moscow found more easy work to build a realm about a new 
national capital. 

The Beginning of a Nation. 

The name of Moscow first appears in the chronicles about the year 
1 147. It is there stated that the Grand Prince George Dolgorouki, hav- 
ing arrived on the domains of a petty prince named Stephen Koutchko, 
caused him to be put to death on some pretext, and that impressed by 
the location of one of the villages on the bank of the Moskowa, where the 
Kremlin now stands, he founded the city of Moscow. 

We could scarcely hope to interest the reader in the long story of 
petty wars, murders, burnings and unscrupulous outrages which fol- 
lowed and marked the early history of the new city which was destined 
to become the key of the empire. 

Those who are interested in this maze of iniquity may find it fully 
set forth by the Russian historian Karamsin. Suffice it to say that for a 
century at least Moscow continued to be an obscure and insignificant 
place within the domains of the Souzdal princes. We hear that it was 
burned by the Tartars in 1237, and that a brother of Alexander Nevsky, 
called Michael of Moscow, was killed there in a battle with the Lithuan- 
ians. 

The Founding of Moscow. 

The real founder, howevej, of the principality was Daniel, a son of 
Alexander Nevsky, who had received this small town and a few villages 
as his particular source of revenue to be collected by means of the usual 
methods among lords, enforced taxation. He began a series of con- 
quests for the extension of his domains and laid the foundations for the 
principality of his successors. 

He created himself an absolute autocrat and brought all the sur- 
rounding princes to his feet, an example which was religiousl}^ followed 
by his son George, who continued his acquisitions until he forced him- 
self to be recognized as the Prince of Novgorod, and by truckling to the 
Mongol Khan secured the assassination of his chief rival and thoroughly 



THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 149 

established himself as the supreme power in Eastern Russia. His reign 
closed in 1325 and was succeeded by that of Ivan, who continued to Ijve 
his evil life as oppressor, burdener, tax gatherer, revenue farmer, alms 
giver and monk protector up to 1341. 

The Rival Cities of Kief and Moscow. 

With all the political iniquities by m.eans of which 'Moscow was stead- 
ily gaining in importance it became necessary to secure further dignity 
by establishing in its midst the head of the church. Kief had been the 
original Holy City of the Russians, and she had been succeeded by the 
town of Vladimir, after Moscow was in reality the capital. 

The metropolitan of Vladimir, Peter, who had an affection for Mos- 
cow, often resided there and his successor established himself there com- 
pletely. Then the religious supremacy which had originally belonged 
to Kief passed to the new capital. Ivan did his best to give it the pres- 
tige of a metropolis. He built magnificent churches in the Kremlin, 
among others that of the Assumption which was succeeded by numer- 
ous others of equal dignity. 

Kief, the ancient metropolis of the church, had been famous for its 
monastery of the Holy Catacombs, and Moscow, not to be outdone, 
founded, through the instrumentality of St. Sergius, the famous Troitsa 
or monastery of the Trinity, in its immediate vicinity. This institution 
subsequently became one of the richest and most venerated in eastern 
Russia. It was surrounded with ramparts and thick brick walls with 
a triple row of embrasures and nine war towers which were afterward 
destined to meet the assaults of Catholics and pagans and whose forti- 
fications remain as a monument of mediaeval engineering architecture to 
the present time. 
, A New Order of Things. 

The Princes of Moscow introduced in Russia the system of primo- 
geniture, the obvious result of which was a tendency to solidify the 
government, exactly as the plan of St. Vladimir had tended to its separa- 
tion into rival principalities by equal division among his sons at his 
death. 



150 THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 

It is obvious that with a virile race, the constant division of territory 
must lead to weakness and militate against the building up of great ter- 
ritories, or the continuation of strong governments founded by ancestors 
with large families. The Muscovites changed this order of things com- 
pletely, and by giving practically all the territory of a principality to 
the eldest son, the government was strengthened and its boundaries 

extended. 

Interesting Personages. 

We may pass over the turbulent times among the Souzdal princes 
during the reigns of Simeon the Proud, which closed in 1553, and Ivan II, 
who came to his end in 1359, both sons of "Ivan the Alms Giver," who 
were stoutly disputed by rival princes who did not desire the title of 
"Grand Prince" to be perpetuated in the house of Moscow. 

All the contending parties seem to have appealed with equal readi- 
ness to the Mongol, but Simeon, wiser than his fellows, succeeded by 
backing up his claims with liberal bribes. By diplomacy, force and brib- 
ery he compelled even Novgorod to pay him a contribution and recognize 
him as supreme, as a result of which he first assumed the title of "Grand 
Prince of all the Russias." 

When this dignity was challenged by Lithuania, who ventured to 
besiege Moscow, he gained moral support by the friendship of St. Alexis, 
the third Metropolitan, and he made return by further advancing the 
privileges and increasing the revenues of the church. 

His brother, Ivan, who succeeded him and is surnamed in history 
"The Debonnaire," seems to have been a pacific and gentle prince who 
naturally had a brief reign. As a result of his weakness, Dimitri of Souz- 
dal succeeded, but the power again returned to Moscow saved by St. 
Alexis, when the Muscovite capital had temporarily ceased to occupy the 
chief place in Eastern Russia. 

Christian Versus Barbarian. 

Upon the recovery of the political importance of Moscow a long series 
of indecisive wars ensued between the Eastern and Western princes 
until finally, under the Muscovite leadership, the time arrived when the 



THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 151 

Russians ventured to take up arms against the Mongol force which had 
so long entrenched itself along the Volga and in 1376 an expedition 
against Kazan forced two Tartar princes to pay tribute and a war was 
inaugurated where the lines were drawn. A series of conflicts between 
the Christians on the one hand and the infidels on the other, culminated 
in the famous battle of Koulikovo, which has made Dimitri Donskoi 
famous. 

He succeeded in forming a strong confederation composed of most 
of the Russian princes of the East and North, who proceeded w;ith a 
great army to give battle to the Asiatic power. The Tartar was assisted 
by the treachery of two or three western princes and assembled a great 
force, composed of all the tribes of Asiatics from southeastern Russia 
and beyond the Caucasus and even assisted by the Genoese colonists 
of the Crimea. 

In spite of the private jealousies of the Christian princes they as- 
sembled such an army as never had been seen in Russia. The force is 
said to have consisted of 150,000 men, which marched forward to meet 
that of the Tartars at the banks of the Don. They decided to cross the 
river and on the plain of Koulikovo, or "Field of Woodcocks," a great 
battle ensued in which the Christians gained a signal victory. The bar- 
barians are said to have lost 100,000 men in this combat but the Russian 
loss was also very severe. 

The Bannockburn of Russian History. 

It was supposed that even Dimitri himself had perished for he was 
missing when the battle came to an end. He was found, however, with 
his armor broken, bleeding from many wounds, and unconscious. For- 
tunately for Moscow, however, he was not dead. This battle from which 
Dimitri derived his surname Donskoi, from the name of the river on 
whose banks it occurred, took place in the year 1380. 

No event in Russian history has been more celebrated in poetry and 
romance than this. As the Scotch story-tellers loved to dwell upon the 
glories of Bannockburn, where Robert Bruce defeated Edward II, and 
British bards have immortalized Bosworth Field and the tragic end of 



152 THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 

Richard III, so Koulikovo was told and retold with many variations. 
These stories differ considerably, the Russian chronicler being careful to 
give Dimitri sole credit, while the poets, inspired by the Pope of Rome, 
have made Saint Sergius, the counselor of the Grand Prince, the chief 
instrument of Russian success. 

While this victory did not result in casting ofif the Mongol yoke, it 
had given courage to the Russians. It broke the charm and demon- 
strated that enslaved, tax-ridden and driven, as they had been before 
on every field, still it was possible to put the redoubtable Tartar to flight. 

The Entry of Tamerlane. 

Unfortunately for the Russians, another great man was looming up in 
Asia in the person of Tamerlane, or more properly, Timur-Beg. This 
great commander, who claimed to be a distant relative of Genghis-Khan, 
was born at a village some forty miles to the south of Samarcand in the 
year 1336. Almost from childhood he was a soldier, and, beginning in 
youth a course of conquest, he established his capital at Samarcand, and 
gradually spread his power until he had carried it by force of arms to 
Delhi in India, beyond the Ganges, had taken Bagdad, Smyrna and Asia 
Minor, and, finally, when over seventy years old, died from exposure in 
a winter campaign against China. He was a despot, who ruled without 
councillors or law-makers, and yet seems to have been a man of letters, 
as well as a warrior. 

It was one of Tamerlane's generals, who, after a victory which 
humbled the Ottoman power in Asia Minor, was sent into Southern 
Russia, and, conquering the Golden Horde, announced to Dimitri that, 
having struck a fatal blow at their common enemy, they had better be 
friends. 

The Traitors Punished. 

These overtures were met with scorn and distrust, and the Asiatics 
advanced on Moscow, ravaging and burning as they progressed. Dimitri 
fled to Kostroma to assemble a new army, but the Mongol commander 
marched straight on the capital which he took by surprise, entered and 



THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 153 

sacked. The other towns of Souzdal suffered the same fate. Gloom uni- 
versal again fell upon Russia, the people being once more enslaved. 

When the Tartar host returned toward the east, Dimitri gathered up 
the fragments of his former power, turned his attention toward the pun- 
ishment of the western princes who had deserted him in his struggle 
against the usurper. In spite of its afflictions, Eastern Russia, so far 
recovered that, when Dimitri died, the principality v/as by far the most 
considerable of the states of the Northeast. He established the prin- 
ciple of inheritance in the direct line and caused his collateral heirs to 
recognize the rights of his eldest son Vassilli, or Basil, to the throne. 

The Reign of the Vassilli. 

Basil, who ruled from 1389 to 1425, was prince both of Moscow and 
Vladimir, and during his time the relative importance of the former city 
was still further enhanced, while Vladimir was compelled to take second 
place and even ancient Novgorod, whatever else it did, was forced to 
make the Muscovite its prince. 

This prince was succeeded by another Vassilli surnamed Blind, who 
ruled from 1425 to 1462. His reign was marked by a civil war which 
lasted twenty years, between the different members of the Donskoi 
family, which resulted in fixing more firmly the power of the Autocracy. 

It would be tiresome to go into details over the long series of wars 
and intrigues which occupied his reign, at the end of which, although we 
find Moscow strengthened, the heel of the Tartar still rested upon the 
Russian neck. 

It was Ivan III, called "The Great," who finally accomplished the 
liberation of Russia from her degrading Tartar servitude. He accom- 
plished this chiefly at the behest of his second wife. She was Sophia, 
the daughter of Constantinc, the last Greek emperor at Byzantium, as 
the modern Constantinople was then called. 

This empire, which had been crumbling for generations, in spite of 
the fact that its capital was located where it had a geographic advantage 
over all the commercial world of its time, had at last come under the 
sway of the horrible Turk, and there, by the way, upon the Golden Horn, 



154 ' THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 

commanding the Dardanelles, sits the Turk yet, in spite of the anathemas 
of Popes, the intrigues of European courts and generations of hostile 
warrior kings. In fact, the Sultan promises to stand fast for an in- 
definite period. However, his first inroad and settlement upon the Bos- 
phorus was indirectly a good thing for Russia. 

The Liberation of Russia. 

Constantine's daughter, fleeing from her father's capital, had sought 
refuge within the sacred walls of Rome, and when Ivan came courting 
her the Pope did not turn a deaf ear to the proposition that she might 
share the Muscovite throne. This brilliant alliance confirmed the Mus- 
covite autocracy and enabled the Grand Prince to place upon his ensigns 
the two-headed eagle as a type of supreme power. With this proud 
Greek princess, better manners came to Moscow. The forms and cere- 
monies of the Byzantine court, and the arts of Greece and Rome were 
brought to Russia. 

The princess, too, was proud and she could not brook the spectacle 
of Moscow paying tribute to a barbarian. She gave her husband no 
peace until he had thrown of¥ the Tartar yoke and prepared himself to 
fight for the dignity and the independence of Russia. 

He, also, on his own part had plenty of pride and ambition when 
spurred on by his broad-minded consort and he decided to do his utmost 
to raise his throne to an equality with the proudest of Europe, fearing 
that the monarchs of the older and more advanced nations might regard 
him as an upstart. He stood very much upon his dignity, insisting that 
he should be treated as a king. He instructed his ambassador at the 
Turkish Court neither to bend the knee to the Sultan nor yield prece- 
dence to the representative of any other power. He was as great a 
stickler for etiquette as the present king of England, and as particular 
about the marriages of the blood royal. 

King by Divine Right. 

In fact, he became a staunch and strenuous advocate of the "divinity 
that doth hedge about a king," He had the audacity to declare that he 



THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 155 

had received his throne from the high and mighty Trinity and would 
not degrade himself by accepting titles from any prince on earth. During 
a long and prosperous reign he did much to increase the material great- 
ness of the nation. 

He became a pattern of industry and art, and, by liberal rewards, 
induced skillful artificers from abroad to flock to Moscow; he rebuilt and 
adorned the Kremlin, decorated it with all the splendors of which the 
art of his day was capable. He erected great buildings and palaces for 
the purposes of the Government and in war adopted the use of artillery, 
causing cannon to be mad'C in great numbers. 

He had mines opened and worked, and coined money of silver and 
copper in his own capital. He established diplomatic relations with for- 
eign nations and first made Russia a European power in the considera- 
tion of the other Courts. 

His reign was one of pomp and show, Oriental forms and ceremonies 
marking the character of his court. There was no moral element, how- 
ever, in all his grandeur and nothing was done to promote the elevation 
of the masses of the people. Though said to be guilty of personal cow- 
ardice at times, when his wife was not looking on, yet by the victories 
of his arms, he added twenty thousand square miles to the territory of 
Russia and over four millions of people to its population during a reign 
of forty-three years, which had surpassed in importance to his country 
that of any of his predecessors. 

Russian Dominion Extended. 

Ivan was succeeded by his son, Vassilli III, who came to the throne 
in 1305. His mother was Sophia, and he was not the true heir, being 
the son of a second marriage. His brother, however, who should have 
received the scepter, was thrown into prison for four years, at the end 
of which time he was put to death. He ruled twenty-eight years, and 
through wars with the Tartars and with Lithuania greatly extended his^ 
dominions. He acquired Smolensk, and, although his reign was some- 
what tame between that of the two Ivans, yet during his time Russia 
moved towards unity and the authority of the Autocracy did not diminish. 



156 ' THE MUSCOVITE DYNASTY. 

At his death his empire, enlarged and extended, was left to his in- 
fant son, Ivan, Helena, his wife, being appointed Regent. This woman, 
it is sad to state, appears to have been of utterly depraved character. 
After six years of crime and misrule she died unregretted and no cor- 
oner's inquest was held over the remains — poison was hinted at. 

Ivan, *'The Great," had first assumed the title of "Tsar" and we now 
come to his successor, who really deserved the title and began a period 
where the rule of czars, as autocrats, upon a large scale and with unlim- 
ited power, may be said in reality to have started. The man who thus 
filled the bill was Ivan, "The Terrible," whom we have dignified as "The 
First Czar" with the above explanation, though in fact the title 
was first assumed by his predecessors. We have given him this honor, 
because of his peculiar and surpassing fitness for the title and his exer- 
cise of supreme tyranny, so obnoxious to modern nations indeed that 
except in the case of Russia, absolute personal despotism has been abol- 
ished throughout the world among the white races. 



CHAPTER XII. 
THE FIRST CZAR 

Ivan the Terrible — ^Early Demoralization — Shuiski Thrown to the Dogs — Influence of 
Ivan's Wife — Awful Atrocities — Proposes Marriage to Queen Elizabeth — Feodor the 
Imbecile — Boris the Evil Genius — The False Dimitri — Vassilli Shuiski. 

IN ORDER to not mislead the reader, it may be well to call attention 
to what was stated in the previous chapter upon one point. That 
is that "Ivan the Terrible," who came to the throne in 1533, was not 
the first Muscovite prince who called himself Czar, but that simply 
to give him the conspicuous place which he deserves in the history of 
the sixteenth century, we have placed him in a chapter thus headed. 

Youthful Days of Ivan. 

During his minority, and after the death of his mother of evil repute, 
the government fell into the hands of a Council of Regency, with Prince 
Andrew Shuiski at its head. This gentleman and his associates appear 
to have been most unprincipled and designing villains. The iniquities 
which they practiced were so refined as to be a marvel to the greatest 
and most accomplished past-master in wickedness, which even the author 
of the old fairy tales could invent. 

These men actually began a deliberate education of corruption in- 
tended either to brutalize or perhaps to cause the death of the young 
man left to their charge and who was destined, should he survive their 
deviltries, to become the absolute master of the fortunes of the patient 
millions of Russia. 

He was designedly accustomed in early years to deeds of cruelty, 
and to imbibe a disregard for the life and well being of subordinates. 
His guardians mocked at his better impulses and applauded his crimes. 
He was encouraged, for example, to drive furiously about the streets 

157 



158 THE FIRST CZAR. 

of Moscow, running over old people and young children and trampling 

them under his horses' feet as a mark of the superiority of royal blood 

over the rights of lovv^er humanity. 

On the other hand, it is said that they in turn did not hesitate to 

visit him with abuse or even bodily punishment, and while encouraging 

his egotism on the one hand, they embittered and humiliated him on the 

other. 

Surrounded by Evil Influences. 

Under such training any boy would have been spoiled, and the result 
was that as he grew to manhood Ivan's nature was dwarfed and per- 
verted, all that was good in him having been repressed and all that was 
bad having been stimulated and cultivated. 

With his fourteenth year, old in wickedness, he was ripe for revolt 
against his oppressors, and declared that he would rule without aid of a 
Council, and in a fit of passion against Andrew Shuiski, he ordered him 
to be thrown to his dogs. The order was obeyed, and the head of the 
powerful house of Shuiski expiated a life of violence and crime by being 
torn to pieces in the kennels of the bloodhounds. 

The young Czarowitch was not, however, to gain his liberty thus 
easily, for the Gluiskis, another powerful family, rose to ascendency in 
the State, and the young prince fell under their evil influence for the 
next three or four years after his summary liberation from the other 
tyrant. Finally in his eighteenth year, after a minority of blood and 
horror, Ivan IV was crowned Tsar. This was in January, 1547. Soon 
afterwards he was married to a lady named Anastasia Romanova. 

Ivan's Character Undergoes a Change. 

About this time Moscow was greatly injured by conflagrations 
started by its own exasperated people, it is said, although some his- 
torians attribute them to the machinations of Ivan's political enemies. 
At any rate these events and the influence of two priests, together with 
that of his young wife, seem to have aroused him to a proper apprecia- 
tion of the enormity of his past deeds, and his character underwent a 
sudden and very marked change for the better. 



THE FIRST CZAR. 159 

He busied himself to extend the confines of his realm, and in 1552 
he became master of Kazan and two years later of Astrakhan, forcing 
back the Mongols steadily toward the Caspian Sea. 

Having broken the Mongol power in the south, and strengthened 
the buttresses of his dominions on the east, he then turned his attention 
to the north, being anxious to open up communications with the western 
world. He was thus brought into collision with the Swedes and the 
Teutonic Knights, which resulted in a war between the Muscovite and 
the Order. In 1558 Ivan invaded Livonia, taking several towns, where- 
upon the Knights made an alliance with the King of Poland, and war 
ensued. 

The Czar Justifies His Atrocious Acts. 

Unfortunately for the history of the man, at this time his character 
seems to have undergone a second sudden change. His wife Anastasia 
died and the Tsar seems to have been seized with a crazy madness 
which led him to all sorts of" atrocities. He banished the priests under 
whose good influence he had been for several years, and thought only 
of vengeance upon his enemies and the prosecution of wars abroad and 
suppression at home. 

All his subjects were afraid of him and the treason of one of the 
princes, Andrew Kurbski, who seems to have been literally frightened 
into desertion to the Poles, led to the writing of a letter by Ivan which 
has been preserved and which is interesting as showing the tyrant's 
own estimate of his own acts. He dwells upon the degrading subjec- 
tion in which he had been kept by his early advisers and attempts to 
justify his cruelty by saying that the people whom he had killed were 
only his slaves over whom God had given him the power of life and 
death. How like a czar ! 

The Nation in a Turmoil. 

The conduct of the monarch from this time forward certainly indi- 
cates a condition of semi-insanity. In December, 1564, he retired with 
a small retinue to a retreat near Moscow, and the nobility, afraid that 
the monarch was about to desert the country and plunge them into a 



i6o THE FIRST CZAR. 

turmoil over the succession, waited upon him in a body and implored 
his return. He finally consented and brought back with him woes and 
miseries to which the devoted citizens of his capital were compelled to 
submit. It is surprising what Russians will stand from the autocrat 
whom they regard as their ruler by the will of God. It is worthy of 
notice that in 1564 the first printing press was set up in Moscow, and 
thus the supreme agent of modern enlightenment found a humble foot- 
hold in the capital of the chief tyrant of the century. 

Ivan, after his return, began a series of atrocities too numerous to 
mention, but among them may be noted the murder of Philip, the arch- 
bishop of Moscow, the execution of Alexandra, the widow of his brother, 
the burning and sacking of Novgorod for having questioned his author- 
ity, and lastly the terrible butcheries on the Red Square. 

The Destruction of Novgorod. 

Novgorod, which he ruthlessly destroyed, was one of the oldest 
commonwealths in Europe, antedating that of Florence in Italy. The 
city was larger than London at that time. It was a place rich in his- 
toric memories and linked with the whole past of Russia whose capital 
it had been six centuries before Moscow was built and a thousand years 
before the founding of St. Petersburg. 

This ancient capital was a proud, wealthy, and luxurious city, en- 
closed within a circuit of fifty miles of walls and containing at this time 
perhaps four hundred thousand people. 

Ivan knew that it hated his rule and suspected that it desired to be 
taken under the protection of Sweden. He swore that he would raze 
Novgorod and sow its site with salt. He invaded it with an army of 
thirty thousand Tartars and for six weeks personally directed the ravag- 
ing of its fields and the burning and destruction of the city. He ordered 
his soldiers to burn, slay, and give no quarter to old or young. Like 
Nero in the great circus when Christians were slaughtered for his 
amusement, Ivan personally took a hand in the wholesale butchery, 
the streets ran with blood, and the river was actually choked with the 
bodies of the dead. Over sixty thousand people lost their lives in the 



THE FIRST CZAR. i6i 

general scramble and terror. Novgorod never recovered from this 
catastrophe and has remained to this day a village. Other smaller 
cities shared the same fate. 

Philip Prior the Martyr. 

It is hard to comprehend a condition of society which would permit 
of such mad tyranny, but history tells the same long story throughout 
his later days. Even in his own capital, scenes similar to those at 
Novgorod were enacted and it is reported that often at the end of some 
bloody atrocity, he would piously lift his eyes to Heaven and ask an 
interest in the prayers of his dear people. 

One of Ivan's martyrs was Philip Prior, a priest famous for the purity 
of his life and example. He dared at one time to rebuke the crimes of 
the Czar to his face. The Greek church has canonized him. His re- 
mains have been removed to Moscow, and on the day of his coronation 
every czar of Russia must kneel before his shrine and kiss his feet. 

A Czar of Many Wives. 

Ivan violated all the laws he knew or which were regarded in his 
time as binding upon mankind. He did violence to the strictest canons 
of his church by taking to himself as many wives as fancy suited him. 
His crazy audacity led him to the extremity of offering his hand to 
Queen Elizabeth of England, when he already had seven living wives. 

It is safe to say that the haughty, red-haired spinster of England did 
not give much attention to his suit, and he therefore, unabashed, offered 
his heart and hand to one of her ladies of honor, Mary Hastings, daugh- 
ter of the Earl of Huntington. The distinction was declined, however, 
and Ivan solaced himself by putting to death the ambassador, who had 
done the courting for him at the British capital. 

It was during this reign that England first entered into relations with 
Russia. This was while young Edward the Sixth was king, in 1553. 
Three ships were sent out to look for a northeast passage to China and 
India, and the expedition wound up at the Court of Ivan, who received 
the English pleasantly and granted certain trading privileges in his 



i62 THE FIRST CZAR. 

dominions to the north. This, of course, was before the matrimonial 
episode, for the young king's sister, EHzabeth, at that time did not seem 
to be very near to the throne which she afterwards made so bloody and 
so ilhistrious in letters and conquest on the high seas. 

Latter Years of Ivan's Reign. 

Ivan was continually at v/ar in the Baltic territory, and on the whole 
not very successful in this region. Nevertheless, he found opportunity 
now and then to sack a city and put to death a few thousand of her 
devoted people. 

In 1 571, however, the Mongols made another invasion from the 
Crimea, and in the language of Hakluit they "burned Moscow every 
stick." In 1572, when the King of Poland died, Ivan declared himself 
as one of the competitors for the throne, but not gaining it he made 
war upon the successful prince, Stephen Batory, who proved a for- 
midable foe to the tyrant, .who was now growing old in years as well 
as wickedness. 

During his reign the conquest of Siberia was begun. The campaign 
had been carried on by a Cossack chief named Yermak, who had for- 
merly been a robber, but he purchased his pardon from the autocrat at 
Moscow by laying his conquests at his feet. 

The declining days of the tyrant were made bitter by the death of 
his eldest son as the result of a blow by his own hand. In a fit of 
passion he struck him with his iron staff and when the youth died his 
father's grief and remorse still further tended to embitter his morose 
disposition. It was not surprising that after all his wickedness and with 
the weakness of old age coming upon him, he became continually afraid 
of conspiracies which might be hatched by his subjects, and he resorted 
to fortune tellers and the divination of witches for protection. The best 
act of his career of villainy and atrocity was his death, which occurred 
in the year 1584. 

A Weak Prince. 

He was succeeded by his son Theodore, or Feodor, as the Russians 
call him, who held the reigns of power for fourteen years, up to 1598. 



THE FIRST CZAR. 163 

He was a weak prince, controlled by a council of nobles, the head of 
which was his brother-in-law, Boris Gudunof. He was old enough to 
reign as an autocrat as his father had done before him, but he was a 
harmless imbecile whose greatest pleasure from early childhood had 
been to hide in church towers and ring the bells at inopportune hours. 
His kinsman, Boris, began immediately to plot his ruin, but was deterred 
from doing away with him by the fact that should Feodor die, another 
son of Ivan IV named Dimitri, a son of his seventh wife, would still 
be in line. 

One day in May, 1591, this lad was found with his throat cut in the 
courtyard of the royal palace. The imbecility of Feodor offering no 
obstacle to the actual rule by Boris, he was allowed to live until seven 
years after, when he died, probably, a natural death. He was the last 
of the line of Rurik, a house which for eight hundred years had reigned 
and had given fifty-two sovereigns to the empire. 

Boris Succeeds to the Throne. 

Boris was crowned czar and ruled with an iron hand so that, although 
some of the remote collateral branches of the house of Rurik still existed, 
none dared to aspire to the sovereignty. The great princes whom he 
could not cajole, or coerce, he exiled. He was of Tartar descent and 
fully imbued with the spirit of Asiatic despotism and was just the man 
to oppress Russia with the heavy yoke of serfdom at a tim.e when bond- 
age to the soil had for the most part ceased in the rest of Europe. His 
administration was brilliant and able, and under his name Russia won 
fame both in arms and diplomacy. 

He was respected abroad and feared and hated at home. The noblest 
and best families were in exile and the people, crushed under a ruthless 
despotism, became sullen and despondent. The minstrels who, under 
the influence of the romantic days of the Renaissance, had risen to great 
popularity and who enlivened the times with songs and stories of 
chivalry, disappeared. The cold chill of suppression fell upon the genius 
of the people. Before his time a form of literature which could exist 
without the art of printing had attained a splendid development. 



i64 THE FIRST CZAR. 

A Period of National Depression. 

It kept alive, on the lips of the people and in the memory of the 
peasants, by oral traditions, the lyric poetry, marriage songs, funeral 
dirges, and holiday hymns which marked the intellectual life of the 
masses. Narratives, sometimes in prose and sometimes in poetry, glori- 
fied their old heroes. There were religious verses which sang the praises 
of Russian saints from village to village, and music, painting, and the 
decorative arts had made considerable advances. All these evidences 
of intellectual awakening were obliterated under the national depres- 
sion of the serf system under Boris. 

The Cossack peasantry, an industrious and peaceable race, fled in 
a body from this tyranny, taking refuge in the country of their ancestors 
on their native steppes in Asia, and the result was a horrible famine, 
which lasted for three years, spreading despair over the whole country. 

A Curious Episode. 

In the midst of all this suiTering, a report was spread that Dimitri, 
the youngest son of Ivan the Terrible, was not dead, and that, there- 
fore, Boris was a usurper. This episode of the false Dimitri is one of 
the most curious in Russian history. 

Although it would seem impossible at first glance for an entire 
nation to give credence to such a story, yet it must be remembered that 
other pretensions of a similar nature have been known in the history 
of the world, and even in modern times the so-called "lost Dauphin" 
of France has received a great deal of notice from historians. 

If Eleazer Williams, a half breed Canadian Indian, could pose through 
the early part of the nineteenth century as a son of Louis XVI and 
Marie Antoinette, who had escaped the "Reign of Terror" of the French 
Revolution, how can we wonder that the ignorant masses of Russia 
at the beginning of the seventeenth century should have given ear to an 
imposter? 

The rise and fall of this false Dimitri hold a large place in Russian 
history of the time. It seems that his real name was Gregory Otreplef, 



THE FIRST CZAR. 165 

and that he was a young monk who could read and write. These 
accomplishments, rare in his day, had given him a place in the service of 
a Polish prince who passed much time at the court of the czar. It is 
related that this prince one day gave his secretary a box on the ear, and 
that the young man burst into tears, exclaiming, "If you knew who I 
am, you would not strike me." He then told a very plausible story, 
declaring that his real name was Dimitri, and that he was the true heir 
to the Russian throne. 

"I Mean to Become Czar of Russia." 

Although the story does not appear to have made much impression 
upon the Polish prince at the time, he afterwards, either through con- 
viction or selfish motives, espoused the cause of the impostor. The 
story runs that the young monk learned many secrets and particulars 
of the life of the murdered czarowitch from old servants and that he 
ascertained the names and titles of the officers who had been attached to 
the boy's person and became possessed, probably through the same 
sources, of a seal bearing Dimitri's initials and a cross set with dia- 
monds, said to have been his baptismal gifts. 

Having prepared his part, he begged to be allowed to retire from 
the court. When asked why he should seek to leave the capital where, 
with his talent and learning he might have a brilliant future, he replied, 
"By remaining here I should become a Bishop at most, but I mean to 
be Czar of Russia." 

This declaration having finally reached the ears of Boris himself, 
he gave orders to have the crazy monk sent to a remote cloister and 
thought no more about him. Otrepief set out, but instead of retiring to 
the seclusion intended for him, he ran away and escaped into Lithuania, 
always hostile to the czar. At every monastery he passed he would 
write on the wall, "I am Dimitri, son of Ivan IV; although beHeved to 
be dead, I escaped from my assassins. When I am upon my father's 
throne, I will recompense the generous men who now show me hos- 
pitality." 



i66 THE FIRST CZAR. 

Many Espouse the Cause of Dimitri. 

These bulletins began to make a sensation, and the young monk, now 
twenty-two years of age, found ready believers among those who fancied 
they saw a resemblance to his mother, the late Tsarina Mary. He 
claimed certain marks of identity on his person, and the royal seal and 
the diamond cross were considered ample proofs that the young man 
was no impostor. It is probable that many were not over-particular in 
examining his claims because anything was preferable to the reign of 
Boris. 

The Jesuits espoused his cause and became his most zealous ad- 
herents, and the Pope's Nuncio promised the aid of the Holy Father, 
provided, of course, that when the young man became czar he would 
further the interests of the Church of Rome. The Poles were ready to 
help him, for hatred of Moscow, and the Cossacks of the Don flocked 
to the Pretender's standard to avenge many wrongs at the hands of the 
tyrant. Ukraine declared for him, and soon he had an army of fifty 
thousand men with which he appeared on the Russian frontier. 

The Death of Boris. 

Boris had already sent an army of similar size against him, and, 
after some fruitless skirmishing, the battle was joined and, although 
the contest was for a long time doubtful, the forces of the impostor 
finally triumphed. For some reason he did not press his victory, but 
issued a proclamation calling upon Boris to come down from the throne 
and make his peace with Heaven. 

Boris knew ver}^ well that the man was an impostor, because he 
had secured the murder of the real Dimitri, but he was a very super- 
stitious man, and, haunted by an imaginary phantom of his youthful 
victim, he came to believe that the son of Ivan IV had really risen from 
his grave and headed the victorious army that was about to enter 
Moscow and drive him from his throne. 

He gave no sign, however, of his intentions or feelings to his coun- 
selors, but he plotted his own death, and resolved to die as he had lived, 



THE FIRST CZAR. 167 

a sovereign. Rising from a splendid banquet given to some distin- 
guished foreigners in his palace, he v^as taken suddenly ill and died in 
two hours. It was believed that the cause of his death was poison 
administered by his own hand. 

His son, Feodor, a youth of sixteen whom he had named as his suc- 
cessor, ruled for six weeks, when he, with his mother and sister, was 
captured and thrown into prison by Dimitri, who treated them with 
respect and kindness. 

A Humane Ruler. 

On the loth of June, 1605, the impostor finally made a triumphal 
entry into Moscow and was crowned in the palace of the czar. 

This young man, whoever he was, was a remarkable character. He 
possessed a commanding and agreeable person, a persuasive eloquence, 
and he was gracious and affable in manner, yet dignified as became a 
sovereign. He was as brilliant of intellect as he was good of heart. 
He possessed, the faculty of creating enthusiastic devotion among the 
people". 

He started out on his reign auspiciously. He surprised all by his 
thorough acquaintance with the empire, its wants and resources, and 
his memory for places and people excited universal wonder. He set out 
reforming abuses and proved himself to be a man with neither favorite 
nor master. 

On public and private occasions, he waived the usual solemn etiquette 
of his predecessors and was always easy of approach. He appeared at 
the door of his palace twice a week to listen to the grievances of the 
people and receive their petitions with his own hands. He was humane 
and moderate, and those who believed that he was an impostor began to 
be sorry that he really had not been born to the throne. 
The Czarina Acknowledges Dimitri. 

One of his fixed determinations was, as he declared, to shed no 
Christian blood, and this was so unlike the habits of a real czar that 
the people marveled. In the meantime his alleged mother, the late 
Czarina Mary, was still living as a nun in a convent where she had been 
sent by Boris, and when the young man had been in power for a month 



i68 THE FIRST CZAR. 

the return of this royal nun was arranged. Dimitri went out to meet 
her, and in the royal tent they spent some time alone. 

Whether the lady really knew that the young man was an impostor 
or not will probably never be settled, although it is believed that she 
must have been aware of the murder of her son, and indeed must have 
seen his dead body. At any rate, Dimitri and Mary appeared presently 
before the people, where the Czarina publicly embraced and acknowl- 
edged the impostor as her son. 

The young Czar ostentatiously placed his alleged mother in a car- 
riage and walked beside it bareheaded toward Moscow. She was 
assigned apartments at the Kremlin, and in every way treated in a 
manner becoming her dignity. 

The young Czar married the popular and beautiful daughter of the 
Palatine of Sendomir, whom he had met while traveling in Poland 
where he had become betrothed to her. The wedding occurred on the 
i8th of May, 1606, being celebrated with great pomp at Moscow. 

A Race War. 

The young man's troubles began here. The enormous retinue of 
Poles that had attended his bride on her journey to the Russian capital 
bore themselves in the most arrogant manner towards the Russians, 
and the old and undying animosity between the two races was kindled 
anew. 

Discontent reigned among the people, based upon reports that the 
Czar had already surrounded himself with Polish counselors, and had 
abandoned old Russian traditions and customs, and, though nominally 
an adherent of the Greek Church, he was really a Papist at heart. But 
the greatest of all his sins was this marriage with an unbaptized woman, 
a Polish heretic, so regarded, because she had not been immersed and 
the Greek Church baptizes only by immersion. The result was a re- 
bellion under Prince Vassilli Shuiski. This prince had before headed a 
conspiracy against the new Czar and had been sentenced to exile in 
Siberia, but the Czar had pardoned him. 

The revolution made such headway that at daybreak on the 24th 



THE FIRST CZAR. i6g 

of May the whole city was in rebellion, and Dimitri was warned of his 
danger but would not listen. In the meantime a fanatical religious 
riot was fomented on the streets, and there were loud cries for orthodox 
Christians to rise and put to death the inmates of the houses where the 
Poles lodged, which had been marked with chalk the night before. The 
palace of the Czar was stormed by an armed mob shouting "Death to 
the impostor!" Dimitri seized a sword and defended himself with great 
bravery, and his guards stood by their master until the last. 

Death of Dimitri. 

Finally, seeing further resistance useless, Dimitri leaped from a 
back window of the palace and broke his leg in the fall. Fainting with 
pain he was seized by the mob and ignominiously put to death. He died 
stoutly claiming that he was indeed the Czar Dimitri, although there 
seems to be not the least doubt that he was in fact, as historians have 
unanimously rated him, a pretender. 

Vassilli Shuiski succeeded him. After a stormy reign of four years 
he was deposed, in 1610, and thrown into prison where he ended his 
days. One ambitious prince after another now grasped the sceptre 
only to be deposed by a more powerful rival, until out of this period 
of anarchy and civil war the dynasty of the Romanoffs came forth 



CHAPTER XIII. 
THE ROMANOFFS 

The House of Eurik Becomes Extinct — Election of a New Czar— IMichael Romanoff, 
Foxmder of Russia, Chosen — His Administration Marked by Great Wisdom — ^His Son 
Alexis Succeeds Him — Incorporation of Ukraine and Country of the Cossacks — ^Wars 
with Sweden and Poland — Civil Rebellion — Feodor III Ascends the Throne — Old 
Custom of Choosing a Wife for the Czar Abolished — Ivan and Peter Become Joint 
Sovereigns — Peter the Great, His Remarkable Character — ^Wars with Sweden and 
Turkey — Founding of St. Petersburg. 

OUR narrative has now reached the restorative period of Russian 
history. We have seen how Russia, from a collection of bar- 
barous tribes, has gradually become a great group of Slavic-Tartar 
principalities, and how out of the turmoil of centuries the Muscovite 
princes of the house of Rurik had become pre-eminent, until Ivan the 
Great assumed the title of Czar, and Ivan the Terrible became the fin- 
ished article in the line of an absolute and fully-developed irresponsible 
despot. We have seen how he was succeeded by political confusion and 
finally anarchy. 

How the Czar Was Chosen. 

In 1612, in November, the throne being vacant, the nobles met in 
council and dispatched letters to every town in the empire, summoning 
the clergy, nobility and citizens to send delegates to Moscow to meet in 
a national assembly and proceed with the election of a czar. This was 
necessary because the direct line of the house of Rurik having run out, 
there was no recognized heir to the throne. There were many claim- 
ants, not only within Russia, but candidates from neighboring kingdoms, 
and indeed the King of Poland was ready, and did subsequently, in spite 
of the action of the National Congress, declare himself Czar of Russia. 

A fast of three days was appointed throughout the country that the 

170 



THE ROMANOFFS. 171 

people might invoke God's blessing on the choice of a new sovereign. 
This fast was most devoutly observed by the nation. 

The day of election finally arrived in Lent, in the year 1613, and the 
choice, fortunately for Russia, fell upon Michael Romanofif, destined to 
become the head of the dynasty of able rulers, distinguished warriors 
and, usually, estimable men who have composed the royal family of 
Russia from that day to the present time. It thus happens that the 
Russian Empire as a whole, as we know it, has never had but two ruHng 
houses, namely, the dynasties of Rurik and Romanoff. 

The Romanoffs a Distinguished Family. 

The young Czar was a youth of sixteen, personally unknown, but 
recommended by the virtues of his father, a high dignitary of the Greek 
Church. This family had long been distinguished for brilliant public 
service, exalted patriotism and personal integrity. Through the female 
branch they were connected with the royal line of Rurik. 

Before he assumed the crown young Michael bound himself by the 
most solemn oaths to protect the Greek Church, to seek no revenge for 
injuries suffered by his family in the past, to change none of the old 
laws and to make no new ones, to declare neither war nor peace, to 
decide upon nothing without the advice of his Council of State, to 
surrender his own estates and incorporate them with the crown lands. 

Peace the Prime Object of the Czar. 

The result was that the country once more enjoyed peace ; pre- 
tenders to the throne no longer were countenanced ; old feuds were 
healed; diplomatic relations were formed with other countries and 
Russia began to take her just place among the civilized nations of the 
then Western world. Throughout the reign, peace was consistently 
observed and aimed at, as the prime object and necessity of the adminis- 
tration, in order that the country wasted by so many years of war and 
tyranny might have a time of convalescence. 

Perhaps the most familiar and true comparison to be made, in order 



172 THE ROMANOFFS. 

to illustrate the progress of Russia under the first Romanoff, is the case 
of Mexico under President Porfirio Diaz. As Diaz has made modern 
Mexico, so Michael Romanoff founded modern Russia. 

Compared to Modern Mexico. 

Like Russia, Mexico had long suffered the woes of internal dissen- 
sion and embarrassment of foreign hostility invited by her weakness. 
Throwing off the yoke of Spain, when that power began to decline in 
the early part of the nineteenth century, a long series of republics and 
dictatorships with various constitutions had succeeded each other. 

Plundered by military self-seekers, repressed by the domination of 
monks, despoiled of her territory at the behest of the slave power of 
the United States, at the close of the war of 1846-48, and finally a prey 
to the cupidity of Napoleon III, ending in the tragic death of the ill-fated 
Maximilian at Queretaro, in 1877, rescued from foreign power by the. 
firmness and courage of Grant and Sheridan, Mexico fell to Diaz, a land 
of brigands, without credit abroad or confidence at home. 

In our own time we have seen the result. Credit has been estab- 
lished, a standing army for the national safeguard maintained, educa- 
tion fostered, industry encouraged, revolution suppressed, protection to 
life and property assured, and confidence restored at home and abroad 
by the natural growth which has come from continued peace and the 
conservation of inherent resources. So Russia enjoyed a period of 
recuperation under Michael Romanoff. 

Wars and Rumors of Wars. 

The condition of the country at the beginning of his reign was indeed 
critical. A large portion of its territory was in the hands of the Swedes, 
at that time an important power in Europe under the sturdy old warrior 
Gustavus Adolphus, destined to pass the prime of his life in the long 
wars which for thirty years rent Europe, in the struggle between Prot- 
estantism and the Church of Rome. 

The Poles were pressing the empire from the west and the villages 
of the country were plundered by wandering bands of Cossacks from 



THE ROMANOFFS. 173 

the south. Ladislaus, the King of Poland, son of Sigismund, had not 
yet renounced the title of Czar, and, in 1617, four years after Michael 
was crowned, appeared with an invading army under the walls of Mos- 
cow, but was defeated on the first day of December, 1618, and consented 
to abandon his claims and conclude a limited peace which was to last 
fourteen years and six months. 

In 161 7, through the good offices of James I of England, a treaty was 
concluded with Gustavus Adolphus at Stolbovo, a town near Lake 
Ladoga, by which the Russians had been compelled to give up a large 
portion of territory, along the Baltic, to the Swedes, including the 
ancient Novgorod, but this peace with Sweden proved to be a most 
fortunate thing for Russia because Gustavus, feeling free to prosecute 
his wars in Germany, was content to maintain friendship with Russia 
and the Greek Church, against a common enemy hostile to both Prot- 
estantism and Russian Orthodoxy. 

Michael's Father Made Patriarch. 

By the peace with Poland above mentioned, Philarete, the father of 
Michael, who had been some time a prisoner at Warsaw, was allowed 
to return to Moscow, and in 1619 was elected Patriarch, an office which 
had been for some time vacant. Young Michael now associated his 
father with himself in his power and all ukases were published in their 
joint names. The Patriarch held a separate court and always sat at 
the right hand of the sovereign. Under the guidance of his father, a 
wise and experienced political ecclesiastic, the Emperor was now able 
to cope with powerful nobles, who were constantly conspiring at home 
as well as with diplomats sent to his court from foreign capitals. 

Thus wisdom marked his administration, and treaties to the advan- 
tage of Russia were made with France and England, a small loan of 
some fifty thousand rubles being advanced by King James, to relieve the 
necessities of the depleted treasury at Moscow, and provide pay and 
munitions for the army which was necessary for defense, against the 
Poles on the one hand and for the suppression of the Cossacks on the 
other. 



174 THE ROMANOFFS. 

The country swarmed with Enghsh and French merchants anxious 
to obtain concessions, prominent among which was the right to trade 
with India by the way of Obi and to have a road for free commerce 
opened to Persia by way of the Volga. 

The Successful Reign of Alexis. 

Michael died in 1645 ^"<i was succeeded by his son Alexis. Although 
the reign of this sovereign was long, lasting for thirty-one years, it was 
not brilliant in a military sense, although it proved so humane, sagacious 
and successful that he is often called, in Russian annals, "The Father of 
his Country." 

He made a new codification of the laws which was based on the 
preceding code of Ivan III. This was accomplished by a royal commis- 
sion, composed of ecclesiastical and lay members, appointed to examine 
existing laws and make any necessary additions, or to adopt to the 
present needs any which had become obsolete. 

They did the work very promptly as compared with Congressional 
commissions to which we are accustomed nowadays, finishing their task 
in two months and a half. This original code is still preserved at Mos- 
cow, and it is worthy of notice jn that it recognized the equality of all 
men in the eyes of the law, and thus anticipated the fundamental prin- 
ciple which was not generally acknowledged in Western Europe until 
the following century. 

We are told that Alexis allowed access to all petitioners at his 
favorite village. He caused a box to be placed opposite his bed-room 
window, and as soon as the Czar arose in the morning and appeared at 
the window the suppliants came forward with their complaints and 
placed them in the box, which was afterward taken to him. 

The Empire Extended. 

One of the chief events of his reign was the incorporation of the 
Ukraine and the country of the Cossacks with Russia. This addition 
to his dominions came about indirectly through the condition of anarchy 
which existed in Poland. A long struggle had been going on for the 



THE ROMANOFFS. 1^5 

possession of South Russia, between the Khan of the Crimea, the 
Sultan of Turkey and the King of Poland, with the result that the 
region was in constant distress and turmoil over the warring forces. 

Finally the Christians appealed to the Czar as the head of the 
Orthodox Church and he, finding an excuse to break the peace with 
Poland, in 1654, solemnly announced that he had decided to march in 
person against his enemy. He commanded that in this campaign no 
occasion should be given for the generals to dispute for precedence. 
He conducted the war with such humanity, and so well timed the 
deliverance, that these circumstances greatly contributed to Muscovite 
success. 

Many towns of White Russia opened their gates to him, Smolensk 
alone resisting, but at the end of five weeks made an easy capitulation. 
Wilna, Grodno and Kodno fell successively, and the Muscovites invaded 
Southern Poland and took Lublin. 

All the East resounded with the Russian victories, and Wallachia 
and Moldavia implored Alexis to take them under his protection. Poland 
was pressed on every hand, and Charles X, King of Sweden, arrived 
and captured Posen, Warsaw and Kracow. 

The Swedish monarch, swelled with ambition, even threatened the 
Russian conquests and claimed Lithuania. The Czar feared that he 
had only shaken Poland to strengthen Sweden, and hastened to nego- 
tiate with the Poles who promised to elect him after the death of their 
present king. Then he turned his arms against Sweden and attacked 
the Baltic provinces. After some preliminary successes, however, the 
campaign languished, and Alexis made a truce which finally resulted in 
the peace of Cardis in 1651, by means of which Russia abandoned 
Livonia. ' . 

Internal Dissensions. 

New troubles ensued, however, and the war soon recommenced, but 
the Russians were unsuccessful at every point, and having no longer 
money to pay the army resorted to a debased currency, which led to 
financial troubles and commercial distress. Riots broke out in Moscow 
against the Czar's chief adviser, who was a kinsman of the Czarina, and 



176^ THE ROMANOFFS. 

troubles galore surrounded the sovereign. Troops were obliged to fire 
upon the rebels to put down the uprising, and several thousand of them 
were killed before quiet was restored. 

There was a general reaction against Polish influence, and the 
alliance which the Russians had made with Poland, by which Smolensk 
and Kief and Little Russia on the left bank of the Dnieper had been 
secured, failed to cement a friendship between the two countries, al- 
though the series of petty wars, which marked the reign, finally resulted 
through the treaty of Lublin, in 1569, by which Russia obtained a large 
slice of the disputed territory. Those interested in the disturbances of 
this time will find it necessary, for complete information, to turn to a 
history of Poland and Sweden under Gustavus Adolphus, but the limits 
of this work will not permit us to cover all this ground. 

Accepting the opportunity afforded by the hostilities between Russia 
and Poland, the Cossacks rose in rebellion, but, after devastating a large 
section in the valley of the Volga during a period of three years, Alexis 
defeated their chief and pardoned him, upon his taking the oath of 
allegiance. Another rebellion, however, broke out headed by the same 
refractory Cossack chief who raised an army of 200,000 men. Having 
violated his oath, he again proclaimed himself an enemy of the nobles 
and the restorer of liberty to the people. Astrakhan surrendered to him 
and he ruled from Nijini-Novgorod to Kazan. He was, however, simply 
a vulgar robber, and his atrocities disgusted the more respectable of his 
adherents who gradually dispersed, and in 1671 he was captured, taken 
to Moscow a-A executed. 

The People Reject Civilization. 

Alexis died in 1676 in the 48th year of his age. During his reign he 
had attempted to promote learning and the arts, but his efforts to intro- 
duce into Russia the customs of more enlightened nations met with but 
slight success. 

Russia had been Asiatic under the Ruriks and, when the first Ro- 
manoffs tried to make it European, progress was slow. The people 
who were grossly ignorant were wedded to the old customs and super- 



THE ROMANOFFS. 177 

stitions. It required the strong hand and master mind of Peter the 
Great, who came later, to civilize them. 

Feodor III, the son of Alexis, succeeded him, coming to the throne 
at nineteen years of age. He was a prince weak in body but of strong 
intellect, and instituted many reforms, which, however, he did not live 
to see consummated. His aim was internal improvement rather than 
the conquest of new territory. He tried to check the pride of nobles 
which had become insufferable, the family which could show the longest 
pedigree being the most arrogant. 

Old Customs Abolished. 

The new Czar, under the pretense of correcting certain errors in 
these records, ordered them to be brought to court. He then called 
together an assembly of the highest civic and clerical dignitaries of the 
empire, and in an eloquent address set forth the dissensions which he 
declared were caused by these records. He advised that they be burned, 
after having the names and dignities of the noble families inscribed in 
a new set of books opened for that purpose. He carried his point and 
assent was given to the proposition. The records, being heaped up in 
the courtyard of the palace, were set on fire and with them perished the 
assumptions of the old nobility of Russia. 

He also abolished the old custom of choosing a wife for the czar. 
Heretofore, in accordance with Oriental custom, the Czar had been in 
the habit of selecting his consort from among his own people. On an 
appointed day the daughters of the noble families were invited to the 
imperial palace, in order that the Czar might choose a wife from among 
them. They came in the most gorgeous apparel, attended by the heads 
of their families, and were entertained with great festivities lasting often 
for several days together. 

During this time the prince critically and attentively observed the 
young ladies and finally, having made his choice, he seated himself at 
the banquet table with his young guests, and there presented to the one 
he had chosen a handkerchief and a ring, dismissing the rest with gifts. 
His choice was then declared in public, the future Czarina receiving the 



178 THE ROMANOFFS. 

crown as princess. Alexis had chosen two wives in this manner. The 
result of this system was dissatisfaction and dissension among the nobil- 
ity, and, not infrequently, ended with the poisoning of the successful 

candidate. 

Chooses a Foreign Wife. 

Feodor, having witnessed the bitter feuds which arose from this 
custom in his father's time, resolved to choose a wife from another 
nation. As he had already formed an ardent attachment to a Polish 
lady, inclination as well as politics led him to this decision. The clericals 
were violently opposed to the innovation. In spite of the anathemas 
of the church, hov^ever, the young Czar married the lady of his choice. 

After a reign of six years he died, leaving no heir, but he had six 
sisters and one brother. This brother, however, being an imbecile, 
Feodor had chosen before his death his half-brother Peter, the son of 
his father by his second wife, Natalia, to be his successor, and thus 
we come to the great page in Russian history covered by the reign of 
Peter the Great, which began in 1689 and lasted till 1725. 

Peter was not allowed to come to the throne peaceably, for the 
family of the first wife of his father resolved, if possible, to retain the 
succession. Sophia, the eldest daughter of Alexis, sister of the late 
Czar, was a princess of great beauty and talent, united with courage 
equal to any emergency, and she contested the crown, first in the name 
of her idiot brother and then in her own. The family of the second 
wife were equally active in pressing the claims of Peter, then a boy ten 
years old. 

Peter Narrowly Escapes Death. 

Sophia finally gained over the support of the National Guard and 
turned them loose on Peter's adherents. A carnage of three days en- 
sued, during which two of Peter's uncles, brothers of his mother, and 
sixty of their kindred were put to death. Natalia, Peter's mother, who 
still survived, fled from the capital, taking with her her son. It is said 
that for over fifty miles she carried him in her arms, the guard following 
close upon her path, determined to put her and her son to the sword. 



THE ROMANOFFS. 179 

She finally sought refuge in the convent of the Holy Trinity, having 
barely time to reach the altar and place her child upon it when the mur- 
derous horde entered. One of them seized the boy and was about to cut 
off his head, when the sounds of approaching horsemen were heard out- 
side, and the frightened ruffians fled and Peter the Great was preserved 
to Russia. 

In the meantime Ivan was declared sovereign, but, idiotic as he was, 
he knew that he was unfit for the crown and requested that Peter might 
be associated with him. 

This request was granted and the young princes were declared joint 
sovereigns, with Sophia as Regent during the minority. During the 
regency an expedition was undertaken against the Mongols in the 
Crimea, but little was accomplished. 

Peter's First Marriage Unhappy. 

In 1689 Peter married a lady named Eudoxia Lopukhina, but the 
union was by no means a happy one. Two sons were born to Peter, 
Alexander and Alexis. The first lived only six months, but the latter 
survived to make a sorry figure in Russian history. The friends and 
adherents of Peter had occasion to comiC to his support to put down a 
revolt of the Guards, which, it was alleged, was the result of a con- 
spiracy to secure his assassination. Sophia, suspected of guilt in this 
matter, was seized and permanently incarcerated In a convent under 
the name of Susanna, where she remained until her death, fifteen years 
later. From the year 1689, seven years after the death of his brother, 
who had designated him as his heir to the throne, the actual rule of 
Peter dates. 

His brother Jvan, infirm in body and mind, from this time forward 
had practically no share in the affairs of government. In spite of his 
infirmities, however, he took a wife and had three daughters, one of whom 
lived to make her mark in Russian history. After a retired life of several 
years, Ivan died, in 1696, at the age of 30. 



i8o THE ROMANOFFS. 

The Far-Reaching Object of the Czar. 

The new Czar inaugurated a policy which has marked the course of 
the Russian Empire from his day to the present time. This policy aimed 
to free Russia from confinement as a land-locked empire, and to give 
her seaports on unfrozen waters. This great object to seek ports, un- 
blocked by ice, was the cornerstone of his administration, and he left 
the idea as a heritage to his successors. 

During these early years, while Sophia was Regent, Peter had done 
much to acquaint himself with conditions in foreign countries by travel — 
making observations which afterward appeared to have broadened his 
character and to have given him a comprehension of the necessities far 
beyond other Russians of his time. He went to Amsterdam and worked 
in a shipyard, and to the village of Zaandam in Holland, where he caused 
himself to be enrolled among the workmen. He lived here for two 
months in a hut, making his own bed and preparing his own food, all 
the while corresponding with his Ministers at home and laboring at the 
same time at shipbuilding. 

He accepted an invitation from William HI to visit London, and 
spent several weeks there, keenly observing everything about him, and 
learning all he could of trade, manufactures and the arts. He then 
proceeded to Vienna, but, receiving there intelligence of a new rebellion 
by the Guards, he returned home and crushed the insurrection, visiting 
the rebels with fearful punishment. This episode occurred after he had 
practically come to the supreme power. 

Many Reforms Introduced into Russia. 

In 1700 he entered upon war with Sweden which lasted for twenty- 
one years. This long struggle, with its series of victories and defeats, 
trials and triumphs, would make a book of itself. Suffice it to say that 
he was defeated by his great rival, Charles XH, at the battle of Narva, 
in the early days of the war, which proceeded with various results until 
1709, when he completely routed Charles at the decisive battle of Pul- 
towa. In the following year the Sultan of Turkey declared war on him, 



THE ROMANOFFS. i8i 

and he narrowsly escaped capture in the campaign of 171 1. This war 
ended in 1713. 

Peter was the first Czar to consoHdate within himself not only the 
political power but the primacy of the church. He suppressed the 
Patriarchate, which had been so prominent under the first Romanoff, 
and assumed the dignity himself. Henceforth the Czar of Russia became 
also the head of the church of the Orthodox faith of the empire. 

In 1703 he founded St. Petersburg and began the fortifications of 
Cronstadt; and from this time to the present the capital of Russia has 
remained in the great city on the Neva, built by him and which bears 
his name. 

The Complex Character of Peter the Great. 

Three years later he married Catherine, a girl of lowly origin and 
immoral character, of whom more will be said later. She was acknowl- 
edged publicly in 1710 and he caused her to be crowned in 1722. 

Peter extended the limits of the empire both in Europe and Asia. 
He changed the face of Russia by his zealous promotion of trade and 
navigation, manufactures and education ; effected an immense change 
in the manners and customs of the Russians, and after the conclusion of 
peace with Sweden received the title of "Emperor of all the Russias 
and Father of his Country." 

It has been said of him that, while able to reform others, he never 
could reform himself, but remained to the last an ignorant, coarse, brutal 
savage, indulging in the lowest vices, gloating over scenes of cruel 
suffering. He sometimes put his victims to torture, played judge and 
executioner, and in a drunken fit would strike off the heads of twenty 
people in succession, to prove his dexterity with the sword. 

He died at St. Petersburg, January 28, 1725, one of the greatest, the 
most remarkable, and, at the same time, the best and the worst men 
who have adorned and blotted the history of Russia. The history of 
no other country presents such a character. Mingling the elements of 
good and bad, he might well have been the original of the modern crea- 
tion of that genius of Robert Louis Stevenson, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. 
Hyde." 



CHAPTER XIV. 
THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES 

Catherine I Ascends the Throne — Her Humble Origin — Menzikoff, Her Prime Minister — 
The Brief Reign of Peter II — Anna of Courland Becomes Czarina — Elizabeth, Daughter 
of Peter the Great, Crowned Empress — Peter III, Elizabeth's Nephew, Made Czar — 
His Consort, Catherine, Called "The Great," Succeeds Kim — Her Bloodthirsty and 
Tsrrannical Career — Her Immoral Character — The Orloflfs — Russian Empire Extended 
— Catherine's Friendship for America — Her Death. 

THE history of Russia is exceedingly rich in dramatic characters. 
The story of no country is better stocked with material for the 
novelist and the playwright. In fact, there is an abundance of such 
literature, but, unfortunately, it is chiefly written in a language almost 
invariably ignored in the educational institutions of the English-speaking 
races and therefore is a sealed book. Take, for example, the career of 
Catherine I, which we are about to consider. 

A Peasant's Daughter Becomes Empress. 

This woman not only came from the humblest walks of life, but was 
even an illegitimate daughter of a peasant from the shores of the Baltic, 
and yet she wore the crown of Russia, and, although her end was as 
ignoble and humiliating to the history of her sex as her beginning, yet 
for the most part her career compels the conclusion that she was no 
common person. 

Her entrance into the political life of Russia was purely accidental. 
In one of Peter's campaigns against Charles XII, among the prisoners 
of war was a Livonian peasant girl, seventeen years old. She came to 
one of his generals weeping for the loss of her husband, to whom she 
had been married only the day before. It is said that the general 
fancied her and took her for a mistress, but Peter, seeing her, also 
liked her looks and claimed her for himself. 

182 



J 
THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 183 

As mentioned in the previous chapter, he first privately married her 
and afterwards pubhcly acknowledged her as his wife, causing her to 
be baptized into the Greek Church, when her name was changed from 
Marpha to Catherine, and as such she is known in history. 

This young woman, if we may beheve the testimony of people who 
knew her, and which has come down to us in abundance, was no beauty, 
but the claim that she had no talent cannot be well founded. 

Catherine a Devoted Wife. 

At any rate it is clear that when Peter first met her in the bloom 
of her youth she was graceful in person and pleasing in manner. She 
likewise was amply endowed with common sense and a remarkably 
sweet temper. She managed to make herself the com.plete master of 
the colossal bear to whom she was married. She alone could quiet the 
Czar in those violent frenzies of passion to which he was subject and 
in the presence of which all others quailed. 

Her devotion to Peter was boundless. She accompanied him every- 
where, even on his campaigns, and was ever present in his camps and 
even on the field of battle. Her courage was never shaken, and in the 
hour of Russia's greatest reverses she did not falter, so that at times 
her hopeful courage perhaps saved the Czar and the empire from ruin. 

Some nineteen years after Peter's return from his first journeyings, 
he again set out on a tour through the other countries of Europe, and 
he took his wife with him. He never seems to have been ashamed of 
her, but he would not take her to the Court of France, not wishing, it 
is believed, to subject her to the ridicule and criticisms of the most 
frivolous capitol in Europe. He therefore left her in Holland when he 
went to Paris. 

The Czar went everywhere in his insatiable thirst for knowledge, 
speaking as he did all the languages of Europe, and was received at the 
various courts in a manner befitting his station, for it is said of him that, 
uncouth savage as he was, he could at times assume the bearing of a 
polished courtier. He was not ignorant of the rules of etiquette, but 
usually refused to be handled by the modes of polite society. 



i84 ' THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 

A German Princess Criticises the Royal Couple. 

On this journey he went to BerHn to visit Frederick of Prussia and, 
as usual, Catherine went with him. Frederick, being possessed of the 
same contempt for vanity and luxury which was so marked in Peter, 
found in the Czar a congenial companion, but the Prussian Queen and 
the Princesses seemed to have regarded Catherine as quite an "impos- 
sible woman." 

Some letters, written by the Princess Wilhelmina, have come down 
to us, in which she handles the royal couple from Russia without gloves. 

The young Princess writes: "When Peter approached to embrace 
my mother. Her Majesty looked as if she would rather be excused. The 
Czar is tall and well made; his face is handsome; but there is in it a 
rudeness which inspires dread. He was dressed like a sailor in a frock 
without lace or ornaments. The Czarina is short and lusty, remarkably 
coarse and without grace or animation. One need only see her to 
become satisfied of her ignoble birth. 

"At the first blush you would take her for a German actress. Her 
clothes look as if bought at a doll shop, everything is so old-fashioned, 
and so bedecked with silver tinsel. She was decorated with a dozen 
orders and portraits of saints and relics, which occasioned such a clatter 
when she walked you would suppose an ass with bells was approach- 
ing." 

Peter's Last Thought. 

Still the Princess Wilhelmina must have known that there was some- 
thing about this woman worthy of more serious consideration, when she 
was the acknowledged wife of a man who might have formed an alliance 
with the highest princess of Europe, but who was always content with 
the woman of his choice. 

In fact, ever anxious to exalt her dignity, he founded the Order of 
St. Catherine in her honor, and when at last he came to his death-bed, 
as the result of obstinate exposure in the work of rescuing a boat which 
had been thrown upon the rocks, his last thought was for her. 

When too weak to speak, in the death grip of pneumonia, he signalled 



THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 185 

for a pen and in trembling hand wrote these words, "Let everything be 

given to ". 

The sentence was never finished, but Catherine and her party de- 
clared that it had been the Czar's intention to leave the throne to his 
wife, if she survived him, and that his dying effort had been to put this 
fiat on record. It was a rather slender title with which to bring a 
peasant woman to the throne of Russia, but like "Mercutio's wound," 
it was enough. 

Catherine Seizes the Throne. 

The only son of Peter's second marriage having died in childhood, 
he left only daughters, and it was supposed by many that the crown 
would settle upon his favorite child, Anna Petrowna, a beautiful and 
amiable young princess, but however it may be, Peter being dead, 
Catherine willed otherwise, and with the aid of her favorite, Menzikoff, 
she seized the throne. 

Catherine I reigned only two years and it would have been better 
for her fame if she had not reigned at all, Menzikoff, her Prime Min- 
ister, was of equally ignoble origin with herself. It is said that in his 
boyhood he was the servant of a pastry cook who sold cakes about the 
streets of Moscow. However, although ignorant of letters, Peter had 
invested him with the highest dignities of State, and now it so hap- 
pened that the affairs of the empire were left in the keeping of two 
persons who could neither read nor write. 

The haughty old nobility could not reconcile its traditional ideas 
of the throne, and what it ought to be, with the sway of two such low- 
born rulers. Menzikoff seems neither to have cared for their scorn nor 
feared their hatred, but the contempt, ridicule and continual opposition, 
which relentlessly pursued Catherine, sank deep into her soul and broke 
her heart. She sought solace in dissipation, and the virtues which had 
distinguished her during Peter's lifetime seem to have deserted her. 

Although her humane disposition deterred her from acts of violence 
and cruelty, she fell into habits of drunkenness which shortened her 
days, and she died at the age of thirty-eight. 



i86 THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 

Contemporary Sovereigns. 

It may be interesting to note the contemporary sovereigns who were 
ruling at the time of the close of Catherine's career, in 1727. Achmed 
III was Sultan of Turkey, Benedict XIII was Pope, Philip V King of 
Spain, Louis XV King of France, John V King of Portugal, Frederick 
William King of Prussia, Charles Albert of Bavaria, Charles VI of 
Germany, Victor Amadeus of Sardinia, Jivonnia Gastone of Tuscany, 
Frederick IV of Denmark, Frederick of Sweden, Frederick Augustus I 
of Poland and George I of England, the latter dying in June of that year. 

Catherine Names Her Successor. 

At this time the country was divided into factions with the old 
reactionary party, the Galitzins, Dolgorukis, and other ancient families 
struggling to control the throne. Catherine, however, by her will, named 
Peter, the grandson of her husband, as her heir to the crown. He was 
a lad of eleven years, the son of Alexis, by Peter the Great's first mar- 
riage with a woman whom he had always hated. 

This Alexis had been brought up in opposition to his father, having 
imbibed the spirits of opposition from his mother. When he grew to 
manhood that feeling broke out in open revolt and he was tried for 
treason and sentenced to death. Immediately after, he died suddenly 
from poison, and few doubt that his end had been brought about at the 
instigation of his father. 

It was not without some justice, therefore, that Catherine designated 
his son as her successor, naming, in default of Peter and his issue, her 
daughter Anna, who had married the Duke of Holstein, and her other 
daughter Elizabeth, in succession. The country was ruled by a regency, 
exercised by a council, consisting of the two daughters, the Duke of 
Holstein, Menzikoff and seven or eight other dignitaries of the empire. 
Menzikoff still continued to be the all-important personage, and, before 
Catherine's death, had obtained her consent to a marriage between his 
daughter and the youthful Peter II, who was to be her heir. 

But his authority was gradually undermined by the Dolgorukis and 



THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 187 

he was first banished to his estates, and afterward to Berzeoff in Siberia, 
where he died in 1729. The Dolgorukis were now in the ascendancy 
and the Czar was betrothed to Natalia, one of this family. He showed 
every inclination to undo his grandfather's work, and the court was 
removed to Moscow to the disparagement of St. Petersburg. Soon 
after, however, in January, 1730, the young prince was seized with 
smallpox and died. 

Anna of Courland Called to the Throne. 

The only event of his reign, so far as the outside world was con- 
cerned, was the attempt of Maurice, Ekike of Saxony, to get possession 
of Courland, a Russian province, by marrying the Duchess Anna, who 
was then a widow. She consented to the union, and the States of the 
province elected him, but Menzikof¥ sent a body of troops who drove 
him out. Upon the death of Peter H, at the age of fifteen, various 
claimants were put forward for the throne. 

The two daughters of Peter the Great, Anna, Duchess -of Holstein, 
and Elizabeth were still living. Two daughters of his elder brother, the 
imbecile Ivan, were also living, Anna, the Duchess of Courland above 
mentioned, and Catherine who had become Duchess of Mecklenburg. 
Alexis Dolgoruki also had an idea of obtaining the crown for his daugh- 
ter Natalia, because she had been the betrothed of the late Czar. 

This claim, however, was treated with derision by the high secret 
council, which resolved to call to the throne Anna of Courland, the niece 
of Peter the Great, thinking that as she v/as so much more remote by 
birth than the daughters of Peter she would more willingly submit to 
their terms. They had prepared for her signature a constitution similar 
to that of Poland. 

Empress by Act of the High Council. 

This constitution provided that the High Council was always to be 
composed of eight persons, whose members were to be chosen, in case 
of vacancy, with the consent of the rest of the body, and that the 
Czarina must consult it on state affairs. Second, without its consent, 
she could neither make peace nor declare war, could not Impose any 



i88 THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 

tax, alienate any crown lands, or appoint to any office above that of a 
colonel. She could not cause to be condemned or executed any member 
of the nobility, nor confiscate the goods of any noble before he had a 
regular trial. She could not marry nor choose a successor without the 
consent of the Council. In case she broke any of these stipulations she 
was to forfeit the crown. 

It will be noticed that this constitution resembled in many points 
the provisions of the Great Charter of England which the barons had 
forced tipon King John at Runnymede. In some points also it re- 
sembled the constitution of the United States, giving some powers to 
the Great Council now lodged in the Senate. Anna assented to these 
terms, but much against her will, as events soon demonstrated. 

She made her entry into Moscow, which was to be her capital, and 
immediately began to intrigue for her independence of the hated con- 
stitution, v\^hich became unpopular with the people because it in reality 
put Russia in the hands of a few powerful families, chiefly the Dolgorukis 
and Galitzins. She therefore called her supporters together and public!}^ 
tore up the document and threw its fragments to the winds. 

Thus ended the last constitution which Russia has known, although 
the adoption of another organic instrument has been frequently dis- 
cussed, and it is believed that, at the very moment when Alexander II 
fell a victim to the bomb thrown by a Nihilist, he had decided to pro- 
mulgate a charter based upon modern constitutions in force under 
liberal governments. 

A Tool in the Hands of the Germans. 

Anna was a cold, repulsive woman, whose temper it was said had 
been soured by the indignities suffered in her youth, and she promptly 
proceeded to take vengeance upon her opponents right and left. She 
threw herself entirely in the hands of the Germans, her chief adviser 
being a man named Biren, a native of Courland, and of low origin. 

She banished the Russian nobles from her court, sending some to 
Siberia, while others were executed. She went so far In the humiliation 
of the noble families as to abolish the right of primogeniture. She made 



THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 189 

herself felt in the politics of Poland, and interfered in the succession 
upon a vacancy occurring on the Polish throne. She opposed the acces- 
sion of Stanislaus, who escaped with difficulty from Dantzic. 

Then she had a war with Turkey, in conjunction with Austria, which 
lasted four years, from 1735 to 1739- This campaign was not very 
successful, but the Russian generals gained the possession of a few 
towns, when Anna was deserted by Austria, who signed the treaty of 
Belgrade with the Turks and put the campaign to an end. 

She died in 1740, after a reign of exactly ten years, and left the crown 
to Ivan, the son of her niece Anna, daughter of her sister Catherine, the 
Duchess of Mechlenburg. 

During his minority, Biren was to be regent. A revolt ensued 
against the German adventurer and he was deposed and sent to exile 
in Siberia. Matters did not rest here, however, and taking advantage 
of the general unpopularity of the German faction, the adherents of 
Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great, resolved to place her upon 
the throne. The infant sovereign was deposed and placed in close 
confinement, where he passed the rest of his life. 

Peter the Great's Daughter is Crowned. 

Elizabeth was then, in 1741, crowned Empress and ruled for twenty 
years. She was the youngest daughter of Peter the Great and had 
inherited, apparently, all his worst traits and few of his redeeming char- 
acteristics. She began her reign by ingratiating herself with the soldiers, 
who still venerated the name of Peter the Great. Upon the first night 
following her coronation she caused the arrest of the entire German 
faction of the court. 

The fate which awaited them, whether death or exile, was ample to 
put them out of her road in the true Russian fashion which prevailed 
in these times. She prided herself upon the circumstance that in her 
reign no one should suffer death, but she dealt out liberally to her 
enemies the punishment of exile, torture and the knout. 

Life at her court must have been delightful ! No noble ever went 
to bed, after having kissed the hand of his smiling sovereign, with luH 



IQO THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 

assurance that he might not be awakened by a detachment of the guard, 
who would hustle him off to Siberia, the bourne from which there was 
no return, or, worse yet, to torture in the gate yard. In fact, her 
declaration of aboHshment of capital punishment would seem to have 
been suggested by a desire that her enemies should suffer the prolonged 
niceties of torture which seemed to be her special delight. 

The Line of Descent Secured to Peter's Heirs. 

On ascending the throne she summoned to her court the son of 
her sister Anna, the Duke of Holstein, who adopted the Greek religion 
and was declared the heir. In 1744 he married, it is needless to say 
with the consent of the Empress, the Princess Sophia of Anhalt-Zerbst, 
who, by her baptism in the Orthodox church, became Catherine. Thus 
the line of descent was secured to the direct heirs of Peter the Great. 

This woman Elizabeth, of narrow, superstitious ideas, depraved 
morals and profound dissimulation, ruled for twenty years. She was 
averse to business, fond of pleasure, and left State affairs mostly to her 
Ministers. At her death she willed the crown to Charles Peter Uric, 
the son of her deceased sister Anna, as her successor. He came to the 
throne under the title of Peter III, in 1762. 

The new Czar had long been a resident at court, and, sixteen years 
previously,- had married the Princess who, upon her adoption to the 
Greek church, as mentioned above, had assumed the name of Catherine. 
She was destined to become one of the most famous and infamous 
women in history, under the title of "Catherine the Great." She was 
born in 1729, and even in her youth she was not remarkable for chastity. 
Her husband, it is said, was even worse, and with the usual incon- 
sistency they mutually reproached each other for their bad habits. 
Stung by the brutality of her husband, perhaps, she became still more 
indecorous in her conduct, and finally was incensed beyond measure by 
his passion for one of his mistresses, the Countess Woromzoff. 

The Despicable Character of Catherine. 

The reign of this woman was marked by a bloodthirsty, revengeful, 
selfish, unscrupulously ambitious and tyrannical administration. Stim- 



THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 191 

ulated by vanity to the commencement of great undertakings, few of 
which she ever finished, she was given to a constant intermeddling in 
the affairs of foreign courts, and in the adoption of customs and maxims 
of government unknown before her time. During her whole reign she 
was engaged in wars, mostly of aggression, and was never known to 
hold a treaty sacred when interest demanded that it should be broken. 
Her sins against the acknowledged laws of the nation were numerous 
and appalling. 

Historians have united, however, in settling upon the arbitrary parti- 
tion of Poland as the stupendous crime of her reign. She carried out 
her policy toward this unhappy kingdom with a persistency and inhu- 
manity far m.ore revolting than that of her allies, Prussia and Austria, 
and she bore the burden of the lion's share of the outrage which she 
perpetrated upon the Polish people. 

She also took large territories from Turkey and developed a plan 
for the expulsion of the Mohammedans from Europe. She plotted to 
set up in the European realms of the Sultan a new government, upon 
which she proposed to place in authority one of her lovers. She was 
active in pushing so-called reforms, when they would redound to her 
own glory, but she seems to have cared nothing for the real good of her 
people. 

She had lovers galore, upon whom in turn she lavished the moneys 
of the national treasury, yet never had anything with which to relieve 
the wants of her oppressed and starving people. The details of her 
private life are too shocking for these pages. 

She is said to have possessed beauty of a certain masculine sort and 
was rather above the medium height, her carriage being majestic. 

Though an atheist at heart she was outwardly devout. She made 
great literary pretensions and, among her works, she wrote a history 
of her times, but her knowledge was so superficial and her writings of 
so little merit that they have not been considered worthy of preserva- 
tion. 



192 . THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 

Rival Claimants Are Murdered. 

She came to the throne without a shadow of right, by the murder 
of her husband, and took good cause to remove the true heir, Ivan, who 
ever since the beginning of Elizabeth's reign had been immured in 
prison. At her instigation he was assassinated. 

There was another possible claimant to the throne and she resolved 
to get rid of her. This young lady was the daughter of the Empress 
Elizabeth, whose marriage had been a clandestine one to a singer. She 
lived in the most retired manner at St. Petersburg, where she was being 
educated under an assumed name. 

Prince Radzivill, of Poland, indignant at Catherine for the wrongs 
she was heaping upon his country, saw in this young woman an instru- 
ment of future revenge. Having gained over her guardians, he conveyed 
her with her governess to Rome. 

The Empress took prompt measures to frustrate these designs upon 
her crown and confiscated the estates of the young lady's patron, so 
that his only resources in Rome were the money derived from the sale 
of his jewels, he having fled there with his charge for refuge. liis means 
being exhausted, Radziwill set out for Poland, leaving his ward and 
her governess in reduced circumstances v^^hich he hoped to relieve on 
his return. 

Upon his arrival in Poland, Catherine promised to restore his estates 
if he would bring the young Princess back to Russia. He refused to 
comply with this condition, but, as the price of his restoration to fortune, 
he promised not again to press her claim.s as an heir to the throne. 

Resolves to Destroy Elizabeth's Daughter. 

She resorted to the instrumentality of another tool, and induced 
Alexis, one of the Orlofif family, all of whom were pliant and remorseless 
instruments of her will, to go to Italy and accomplish the ruin of her 
possible rival. 

Alexis went to Leghorn, where he laid a snare for the young Princess 
through the aid of a base Neapolitan intriguer named Ribas, whom he 



THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 193 

sent to Rome, and where the villain introduced himself as an Italian 
officer who had come to pay his respects to the Princess, In whose 
fortunes he professed to feel the deepest interest. The young Princess 
was destitute, and when he offered assistance he was graciously received. 

When Ribas had secured the complete confidence of the unsuspect- 
ing girl, he declared that he had come commissioned by Alexis Orloff 
to offer her the throne of Russia, and that if she would consent to 
marry Orloff he would head a rebellion in her favor. 

The young Princess had already been informed by Prince Radzivill 
of her claim to her mother's throne, and the hopes he had fostered now 
seemed confirmed, so that with fatal alacrity she yielded to the designs 
of the conspirators. When, later, Alexis himself came to Rome she 
gave him a ready welcome, and when, as part of his carefully prepared 
instructions, he declared that he had fallen in love with her, with the 
inexperience of a girl of sixteen she readily consented to become his 
wife. 

A Mock Marriage and Its Sequel. 

Pretending that he desired to have the marriage performed accord- 
ing to the ritual of the Greek church, Orloff hired some villains to 
assume the character of priests and witnesses, and a false ceremony was 
performed. He told his bride that as their stay in Rome exposed them 
to remark and criticism, their best course would be to go to some other 
ItaHan city and there await the insurrection which was promised to place 
her upon the throne. They went to Pisa, where Orloff hired a splendid 
palace and where he played the part of tender and devoted husband. 

The Russian sqtiadron under Admiral Gregg had entered the Port 
of Leghorn, and Orloff, professing that urgent business' called him there, 
invited his wife to accompany him. Upon his arrival they took apart- 
ments provided for them at the house of the British Consul, where the 
Princess was treated with the utmost respect, ladies of the highest rank 
paying her distinguished attention. 

She found herself flattered and courted in a brilliant circle, of which 
she was the center, and she was completely hoodwinked as to the base- 
ness of her pretended husband. In due time the Princess was decoyed 



194 THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 

on board one of the vessels of the fleet, being received at the wharf witli 
special honors. She went on board of a boat covered with splendid 
awnings, where the English Consul and several ladies took seats with 
her. Count Orloff and Admiral Gregg occupied another boat. As they 
approached the fleet salutes of artillery were fired and she was greeted 
with music, the young princess being assured that these honors were 
paid to her as the heiress to the Russian throne. 

When her boat came alongside the ship which she was to enter, a 
splendid chair was let down, and, seated in this, she was hoisted on deck 
in great pomp and ceremony. Scarcely had she set foot on deck when 
she was handcuffed and ordered to descend into the hold. She appealed 
to her husband for protection, throwing herself at his feet, but he, being 
simply the tool of Catherine, turned a deaf ear to her entreaties. The 
next day the ship sailed for Russia, and, upon arriving at St. Petersburg, 
the Princess was immured in a fortress on the banks of the Neva. 
The Mystery Never Solved. 

The citizens of Leghorn who had supposed the Princess to be the 
lawful wife of Orloff, and in good faith had paid her the honors due her 
rank, were highly indignant at the infamous treatment the young lad}^ 
had received, and immediately made loud protests. The Court of 
Tuscany at once complained of the outrage, both to the Courts of St. 
Petersburg and Vienna. Leopold of Austria made formal protest, and 
the other rulers entered complaint against Orloff, who, howover, was 
upheld by Catherine, who unblushingly braved the resentment which 
the treatment of the Princess had aroused. 

What became of the girl is a mystery, although it is generally sup- 
posed that she was drowned in the inundation of the Neva which 
occurred in 1777, although it has been afBrmed by some that she was 
murdered in prison by Catherine's command. 

Murders Her Husband. 

Among the other acts of Catherine's life which has proved to be a 
fruitful subject for comment, was the prompt manner in which she 
disposed of her husband. Being incensed at his conduct she repaired 



THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 195 

with the Guard to one of his houses of pleasure, where he was enjoying 
himself in characteristic excesses in company with his mistress, the 
Countess Woronzofif, and caused him to be seized and thrown into 
prison. 

A few days later it was reported that he had died of the colic. It 
was currently reported that his sickness had been induced by poison 
and his death did not cause much surprise, for,- with Russian despots 
of that time, death was expected to follow under the circumstances, and 
whether the malady was named "colic" or anything else the result was 
the same. During all her long reign of wickedness, lasting thirty-four 
years, she did much to advance the prestige of Russia. 

War with Turkey. 

In 1767, at the instigation of the King of France, she declared war 
on Turkey, with the avowed object of aiding the Poles. The Russian 
general, Galitzin, attacked the Grand Vizier at the town of Khotin, in 
1769, and, continuing the campaign in that part of the world, her forces 
the following year defeated the Khan of the Crimea, the Turkish ally, 
and in 1770 she won the great victory of Kalgul. In 1771 her armies 
overran the Crimea, and the infamous Alexis Orlof¥ defeated the Turks 
in a naval engagement at Thesme on the coast of Asia Minor. 

In this expedition the Russians were assisted by the English, who 
in great numbers entered the naval service of the Empress. In i774 
she signed a peace wherein the Sultan acknowledged the independence 
of the Crimea. The Russians thus detached this province from the 
Turkish dominions, and after exercising over it a kind of protectory, 
added it to their dominions. The Sultan also ceded Azoff on the Don, 
Kinburn at the mouth of the Dnieper, and the fortified, places of the 
Crimea. The unfortunate Greeks, who in the meantime had been in- 
duced to rise against the Turks, were abandoned to their fate. 

Other Events During Catherine's Reign. 

The year 1771 was also signalized by the outbreak of the great 
plague at Moscow, and many of its inhabitants perished. Afterwards 



196 THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 

occurred a rebellion by the Cossacks of the Don, whose leader declared 
himself to be the Emperor Peter III. He alleged that he had escaped 
from the hands of his would-be murderers, and would soon regain his 
throne. A large band of disaffected peasants gathered round him and 
he was joined by many of the Mongol races hostile to the Russian rule. 

At first the generals sent against him were defeated, the path of 
the rebels being everywhere marked with bloodshed and pillage. He 
even got possession of certain towns of importance, including Kazan. 
If he had been anything other than a vulgar robber, Catherine might 
have trembled on her throne, but the people, outraged by his cruelties, 
failed to support him and he was captured, taken to Moscow in a cage, 
and publicly executed In 1775. 

In the same year the Empress put an end to the so-called Republic 
of the Zaporogian Cossacks, a people who had maintained themselves 
in South Russia, occupying a territory north of the Black Sea and west 
of the Don Cossacks. 

Catherine prided herself on her learning, and a great codification 
of the laws took place under her direction, making what has been called 
the Sixth Period of Russian legislation. The serfs, however, received 
no benefit by the changes, being still refused the right to make com- 
plaints against their masters. In fact, the character of the tyranny of 
her reign, and the power of the nobility at the time, is illustrated by 
their right to send their serfs to Siberia as a punishment, or of handing 
them over to be enlisted in the army. The public sale of serfs was still 
legal and a matter of every-day occurrence. 

The Plans of Peter Carried Out. 

Catherine divided the country into governments for better adminis- 
tration of justice, each country being subdivided into districts. She 
also took away from the monasteries their lands and their serfs, and 
allotted to them proportionate payments from the public revenues. The 
plans of Peter the Great in this respect were thus fully carried out, and 
the Church became entirely dependent upon the State. 

A second war with Turkey broke out in 1787, the Ottoman govern- 



THE RUSSIAN EMPRESSES. 197 

merit being aroused by suspicions of Catherine's intention toward it by 
a tour of inspection through the southern provinces of Russia, and espe- 
cially by a series of interviews with the Emperor Joseph II. 

To increase her embarrassment Sweden declared war at the same 
time, requiring from Russia the cession of the southern part of Finland, 
which had been taken from her previously. The Empress, however, met 
with good fortune, both in the contest with the Swedes and with the 
Turks, and, after a sanguinary battle with the Mussulmans, in 1790, took 
Ismail, and by the treaty of 1792 gained new territory. 

Finally, in 1796, Catherine died without a moment's warning, and 
the vast empire, whose aggrandizement had been the one dream of her 
life, passed to her son Paul, the son whom from his birth she had hated 
and persecuted. 

Catherine a Factor in the Birth of America. 

Thus passed away this woman, who, by constant intrigues and many 
wars, in spite of her wickedness, had well defended the confines of her 
empire, and above all she had destroyed the power of Poland by a 
second and third partition of this unhappy country, through playing by 
turns into the hands of France, Prussia and Austria. No sovereign 
since Ivan the Terrible had extended the frontier of the empire by such 
conquests. She had given for Russia her boundaries at the Niemen, 
the Dniester and the Black Sea. 

During her reign, by her friendship for John Paul Jones, the Ameri- 
can privateer, and through the connivance of Frederick of Prussia, she 
had encouraged the course of France toward the revolution of the 
British colonies in America, and thus, indirectly, aided the establishment 
of the government of the United States. 

Thus, while for the most part we find in her character only that 
which is detestable in personal and political morality, the people of this 
country cannot forget that perhaps she played an important part in the 
birth of this republic, which has stood for more than a century and a 
quarter as the type of personal, political and religious freedom through- 
out the world. 



CHAPTER XV. 
RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA 

The Reign of Paul I — Issues Ukase Limiting Succession to Male Line — ^His Policy One 
of Conciliation — His Ignoble End — Alexander I, His Foreign and Domestic Policy — 
Opposes Napoleon's Despotism — The Battles of Austerlitz and Friedland — French 
Invasion of Russia — The Retreat from Moscow — Capture of Paris — Overthrow of the 
Great Corsican — ^Death of Alexander. 

E NOW come to the reign of Paul I, which began on the 17th 
of November, 1796, and lasted until the 24th of March, 1801. 
From this time forward we have no more women upon the throne of 
Russia. This was due to Paul. 

Succession Limited to Males. 

Peter the Great was the author of a ukase, which gave to the sov- 
ereign the right to name a successor by will, and it is believed that 
Catherine had intended to deprive her son of the crown and settle the 
succession upon his eldest son Alexander. One of the first things which 
Paul did was to repeal this ukase of Peter and promulgate another lim- 
iting the succession to the throne to the male line by hereditary de- 
scent, the supreme authority to devolve upon a woman only upon the 
entire extinction of every male heir. 

Thus he at least removed the probability in future of another em- 
press coming to the throne by the murder of her husband, as had been 
the case with Catherine II, who had caused, it will be remembered, the 
poisoning of Peter III during the first year of his reign, seizing the 
government herself. 

Paul came to the throne at the time of great political activity in Eu- 
rope, due to the result of the French Revolution and the rapid rise of 
Napoleon. 

It may be interesting to note that his contemporaries were Selim III, 

198 



RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA. 199 

Sultan of Turkey; Pius VI, Pope of Rome; Charles I, of Spain; Freder- 
ick-William II, of Prussia; Charles Theodore, of Bavaria; Francis II, of 
Germany; Ferdinand IV, of Naples; Christian VII, of Denmark; Gus- 
tavus IV, of Sweden; William V, of Holland; George III, of England, 
while George Washington was drawing his second administration to a 
close in the United States. 

Exhumes the Body of His Father. 

One of Paul's first acts was to do honor to the memory of his father, 
Peter III, who had been privately buried by his mother's orders at the 
monastery of St. Alexander Nevsky. He caused the remains to be ex- 
humed and encased in a gorgeous casket to match that which held the 
body of Catherine, and proceeded with great pomp to have a joint 
funeral. The coffins containing his parents' remains were placed close 
together side by side, covered with an inscription in immortelles which 
read "Parted in Life, United in Death." 

With a refinement of revenge which was quite civilized compared 
with what Peter the Great would have done, he caused the assassins of 
his father, the notorious Alexis Orloff and Prince Baradinsky, to walk 
beside his father's coffin as chief mourners. 

A Czar Full of Good Intentions. 

Despising his mother's memory, he proceeded to repeal her laws and 
undo so far as possible the things which she had done in the regulation 
of affairs at court. He even went so far as to abolish the words **so- 
ciety" and "citizen," a term which Catherine had delighted to roll off the 
end of her tongue in imitation of the custom at Paris under the Revo- 
lutionary leaders. 

If he had been brought up right, Paul might easily have been a great 
man. Through all his youth, however, and up to the time of his ac- 
cession, when over forty, he had been subject to a policy of suppression. 
He had been forbidden the court, kept out of the army and in every 
way possible treated with contumely by his mother and the aristocracy 
which surrounded her. 

It was scarcely his fault then that he came to the throne without 



200 RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA. 

knowledge of his empire, of the science of government, or the art of 
war. The result was that he did many foolish things and throughout 
his reign of less than five years was always an uncertain character in 
domestic and foreign policies. 

He began his reign with an evident intention to make his administra- 
tion one of peace and he publicly proclaimed that Russia, rent and ex- 
hausted by half a century of almost constant warfare, needed p^ace for 

recuperation. 

Leading Events of Paul's Reign. 

He probably would have been able to pursue this policy to the end 
but for Napoleon, the arch disturber of the affairs of Europe. He began 
a policy of conciliation toward Poland, bringing home many of the ex- 
iles from Siberia. He withdrew the Russian army from the frontiers 
of Persia, and reduced the military levies throughout the empire. He 
announced to the King of Prussia that he was not in favor of further 
conquests and dictated a circular which he communicated to the foreign 
powers, setting forth that although Russia would take no part in the 
contest with France, the emperor would remain as ever united with his 
allies, and oppose by all possible means the progress of the mad French 
Republic, which threatened Europe with total ruin, by the destruction 
of her laws, privileges, property, religion and manners. He refused 
armed assistance to Austria, which was alarmed by the sensational vic- 
tories of Napoleon in Northern Italy. 

He recalled the vessels sent by Catherine to join the English fleet 
to blockade the coasts of France and Holland. He even went so far 
while friendly with the allies who had united against Napoleon, as 
to give assurances to France that he desired to live at peace with her 
and that he would persuade the members of the coalition to end the 
war, offering the mediation of Russia for the accompHshment of this 
result. 

The operations of France in the Mediterranean, however, soon led 
him into difficulties with Napoleon and when the latter took Malta, ex- 
pelling the knights, he invited them to an asylum at St. Petersburg and 
himself became the Grand Master of the Order. The presence of Na- 



RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA. 201 

poleon in Egypt having at the same time alarmed the Porte, Paul was 
led, contrary to all the traditions of Russia, to make an alliance with the 
Sultan of Turkey in opposition to the aggressive policy of France in 
the Levant. 

Internal Dissensions Lead to Paul's Overthrow. 

In the meantime troubles were brewing at home due to his own mad 
eccentricities. He changed the organization of the army, adopting Prus- 
sian uniforms, to the intense disgust of the military. He issued orders 
regulating the manner of dress and the wearing of beards. At the same 
time he was liberal in exiling the favorites of his mother to Siberia, and 
speedily caused the growth of a large party of discontents throughout 
the empire. 

The result was a conspiracy for his overthrow, and in a melee at his 
palace he was seized and strangled, thus coming to an ignoble end and 
making way for his eldest son, Alexander. 

Paul was twice married, first to a Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, who 
died early ; and again to Maria of Wurtemburg, a princess of rare beauty, 
talent and virtue. She became the mother of nine children, four sons, 
Alexander, Constantine, Nicholas and Michael; and five daughters. 

Alexander the First is Crowned. 

Alexander I came to the throne of Russia just about the time that 
Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated president of the United States, old 
George III being still nominally king of England and Napoleon Bona- 
parte about to seize the power in France as First Consul, which he did 
the following year. 

With the new emperor came a revulsion of foreign policy. The 
maritime differences as to questions of blockade and right of neutrals 
were adjusted with England and a reconciliation was effected with 
George III. Paul's Council of State was dismissed and a new cabinet 
of younger men with English sympathies was installed. Still Alexander 
did not intend hostilities with France, but Napoleon was greatly irri- 
tated at this abrupt change in Russian policy. 

No friend of his could flirt with Brittania. 



202 RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA. 

To this attitude the high-spirited Alexander gave instructions to his 
minister at Paris which breathed defiance toward Bonaparte, giving him 
to understand that he could not use Russia as a weapon against Eng- 
land. An elaborate treaty of peace and amity however was made be- 
tween Napoleon and the Emperor, by which the First Consul promised 
to do a lot of things which he never did, and no doubt never intended 
to do, so far as provision was made for the recognition of the rights of 
various small kingdoms and a policy of evacuation in the Eastern Medi- 
terranean. 

The First Steps Toward Universal Freedom. 

Alexander was most concerned in the domestic policy of Russia. He 
set about to inaugurate moral reforms, striving to forget old animosi- 
ties at home and abroad and to adopt a pacific policy toward all. He 
soon won the enviable title of the "Prince of Peace." His early refor- 
mations were many and great, and that which has given the chief lustre 
to his name was the abolition of the public sale of serfs. He thus paved 
the way for the final emancipation, which was a. measure very near his 
heart, but which he could not accomplish, Russia in his day not being 
ready for this momentous event. He took the initial steps, however, 
toward universal freedom. He gave to the serfs the right to purchase 
their own emancipation and with it land to be held in their own names, 
thus elevating them to citizenship and bringing them into the fold of 
humanity, which in Russia had been closed to them heretofore. He 
abolished punishment by torture. He removed many civil and social re- 
straints which had pressed heavily upon the masses, thus, by a spirit of 
'liberality unknown in any Czar before his time, he characterized his 
reign by many beneficent and praiseworthy acts. 

History will no do,ubt ascribe much of the good in his character to 
his benevolent and pure-minded mother, who had superintended his ed- 
ucation, and who passed her life not only in the zealous rearing of her 
children, but in mitigating the sufferings of those around her, who were 
less fortunate, and in founding institutions of charity and universities 
of learning. It was natural, therefore, that Alexander should be moved 



RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA. 203 

by the woes and sufferings of humanity, and be prompted to do all in 
his power for the oppressed millions of down-trodden, war-ridden Eu- 
rope. 

The Collision With Napoleon. 

It was natural, therefore, that the despotism which Napolfeon was 
trying to force upon Europe under the tri-color of France, must sooner 
or later bring Russia into collision with the ambitious emperor of the 
French. The reconciliation which he had attempted came to naught, 
and the alliance of 1805 between Russia, England, Austria and Sweden 
for the purposes of resisting the encroachments of the French on the 
territories of independent states, could only lead to war. 

"The Sun of Austerlitz." 

The first result was Austerlitz, that famous triumph for France, but 
an event baleful in its influence upon the peace and welfare of Europe. 
This is one of the most dramatic battles of the world, so graphically 
told by Headley, the American historian, and Guizot, the able historian 
of France. It occurred on the 2d of December and on this field Alex- 
ander appeared in person at the head of 50,000 men, but defeated, he 
was compelled to retreat to his own dominions. Soon, however, he 
again appeared on the theatre of war. 

The scene of conflict was now changed to Poland. On December 
26, 1806, was fought the battle of Pultusk, and on the 7th and 8th of 
February, 1807, that of Eyleau, neither of which engagements was de- 
cisive. On the 14th of the following June, however, the Russians were 
completely defeated at the battle of Friedland, which marked the zenith 
of Napoleon's glory. 

Those of our readers who may visit New York City would do well 
to go to the Metropolitan Art Gallery and study carefully the great 
painting of the French artist Meissonier, which depicts with fidelity the 
crowning moment of this battle. The result of this victory was an in- 
terview between the two emperors which led to the famous peace of 
the treaty of Tilsit, soon to be broken. 

The seizure of the Danish fleet by the English occasioned a declara- 



204 RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA. 

tion of war from Russia against that country but hostilities only ex- 
tended to a bloodless cessation of trade between the two nations. In 
fact it was of less importance than the now almost forgotten war be- 
tween the United States and France which during the administration 
of President Madison did lead to some bloodshed on the sea. 

Plans for the Future. 

A second meeting between the Russian and French sovereigns took 
place at Erfurt, September 27, 1808, Napoleon being anxious to secure 
the friendship of Alexander previous to his contemplated conquest with 
Spain. While Napoleon was engaged in this undertaking the Russian 
emperor took the opportunity to make himself master of the Swedish 
province of Finland. 

Alexander burning under the defeats which he had suffered at Aus- 
terlitz and Friedland determined to throw off the yoke of Napoleon and 
began to raise an army. The obvious object of which was the humilia- 
tion of France. ' Napoleon, however, w^as not asleep and he on his part 
determined upon the fatal invasion of Russia, which was the crowning 
mistake of his career. Napoleon was anxious to renew hostilities with 
Russia and to settle for once and all his differences with Alexander and 
remove his power as a menace to the schemes of aggrandizement which 
the French emperor contemplated, chief of which was the overthrov/ 
of England. 

He did not dare to attack Great Britain without first settling his 
score with Russia. In the meantime he had formed an alliance with 
Austria, by divorcing Josephine, and his m^arriage with the daughter of 
the Emperor Francis, although his alliance with the Austrian court had 
been far from giving him the support of the Austrian people. The re- 
sult of diplomacy which followed was that Napoleon began the attempt 
to annihilate the Russian power, under the guise of a war for the salva- 
tion of Poland. He was careful, however, not to go too far in the re- 
establishment of the old monarchy at Warsaw, his prime object being, 
not the liberation of Central Europe, but the conquest of Russia, which 
he started upon with some preliminary successes. 



RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC E.RA. 205 

The Invasion of Russia. 

He advanced into the country suffering great losses, but finally de- 
cided upon Moscow itself, the traditional capital of ancient Russia, as 
the key to his invasion. Pressing back the Russian army, he finally ar- 
rived upon the heights, from which he was delighted by the sight of 
the distant city, illuminated by the setting sun, which brought into full 
relief the oriental brilliance of its palaces and its churches. The army 
shared his enthusiasm but it was a city of solitude. 

The Russian army and the people of the Holy City had left it to 
be the grave of the Grand Army which had marched so far to reduce 
it to submission. On the 15th of September, 1812, with the first snows 
of the Russian winter in the air, the French Emperor entered the 
deserted streets. Only a few wretched stragglers were left to watch 
the advance of the conqueror to luxurious quarters in the deserted 
Kremlin. The next night fire broke out and a storm of wind and rain 
came on to increase the disorder and discomfort among the French 
troops. No means were found for checking the conflagration and ruin 
and devastation followed. 

Napoleon found that he had captured an empty city, for the Russian 
army had escaped him and he desired to make peace. So he wrote a 
letter to Alexander, at St. Petersburg, with the evident intention of 
resorting to diplomacy to accomplish his ends and avert the ruin which 
he saw staring the French army in the face. 

End of Napoleonic Rule. 

French historians have attributed Napoleon's disaster to the burn- 
ing of Moscow. This is not true. It was not fire, but hunger, which 
faced the French army. All the machinery of the city had disappeared. 
Its markets were empty and there was no food to be had, but the burn- 
ing of Moscow, which has figured as such a dramatic episode in history, 
is in fact a French myth. It is true there was fire and plenty of it, but 
the city was not destroyed and stands to-day practically as it stood 
before Napoleon ever saw it. 



2o6 RUSSIA DURING THE NAPOLEONIC ERA. 

It is not the province of this work to trace the retreat and destruc- 
tion of the Grand Army upon its return, amid the snow-covered wastes 
of Russia, in the midst of the storms and freezing cold of the dark 
days of 1812. The flower of France perished and Napoleon's ambition 
at Moscow found its ruin, but not by fire. 

On joining his army in February, 1813, in Poland, Alexander pub- 
lished the famous manifesto which served as a basis of the new coalition 
of the European powers against the French Emperor and hereafter 
Germany, and then France, became the scene of hostilities, culminating 
in the capture of Paris, April 30, 1814. This was followed by the 
abdication of Bonaparte and the conclusion of peace. 

Alexander visited England in the company of the King of Prussia, 
and on his return to his own dominions he again busied himself in 
ameliorating the conditions of his empire. He obtained the duchy of 
Warsaw and was recognized as the King of Poland by the Congress 
of Vienna. In November, 181 5, he visited Warsaw and there pub- 
lished a constitution for the new kingdom and next to his empire. 

Death of Alexander. 

His death took place at Taganrog, in the Crimea, December i, 1825, 
and he was succeeded by his second son, Nicholas I, his eldest brother. 
Constantine, resigning to him the right of succession. 

Thus came to his end one of the greatest of the Romanoffs, a sincere 
lover of peace, vigilant, brave and active in war, intolerant in his 
religious principles, mild, amiable and correct in his private life, yet 
strict in the administration of justice, a patron of literature and the 
arts, and though ambitious of power, yet recognizing the spirit of his 
century and frequently acting in accordance with its highest principles 
in the recognition of individual liberty. 



CHAPTER XVI. 
THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS 

A Born Soldier — His Marriages — Abdicates the Throne — ^Nicholas I — His Catechisms — 
Champions the Greeks — An Insurrection — The Crimean War — The Result of a Hasty 
Policy. 

N'"ICHOLAS I came to the throne under peculiar circumstances. 
He was not the heir and still he received the crown peaceably 
and by the consent of the man who might presumably have come to 
the throne and still preferred not to. This singular example of self- 
abnegation is worthy of explanation. 

The Emperor Alexander and his wife had only two children, both 
daughters, who died in infancy. Of his three brothers, Nicholas, Con- 
stantine and Michael, were two, nineteen and twenty-one years younger 
respectively. The order of succession having been established by the 
ukase of Paul, the crown naturally devolved on Constantine. 

The Childhood o£ Constantine. 

Of all Paul's children he was the only one which resembled his 
father, the rest inheriting the beauty and disposition of their mother, 
the German Princess, who so long exercised her benevolent influence 
at Court, both as the wife of the Tsar and as Dowager Tsarina. In 
appearance and disposition Constantine was a Kalmuc, except that he 
was very fair in his complexion, with white eyebrows and deep-set blue 
eyes. From childhood he had been a curious fellow, and his whimsical 
oddities had ever been a source of amusement at Court. He had been 
a great favorite of his grandmother, Catherine II, and she kept him 
with her a good deal of the time. His mother also had been particularly 
fond of him, although not so promising nor of so amiable a disposition 
in childhood as the rest of her family. As he grew up he hated books 

207 



2o8 THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 

and refused absolutely to yield obedience to his tutors, who could not 
by any possible means induce him to study. He would learn nothing 
but military tactics and in these he always delighted. When he grew 
older he was extremely fond of drilling soldiers and was a very marti- 
net in matters of equipment and discipline. He often showed great 
severity for even a very slight breach of duty or etiquette on the part 
of a soldier. He declared that he was utterly opposed to war because 
it spoiled the soldiers' uniforms. He wanted a nice army simply to 
drill and review. 

Early in life, however, he developed real military talent and, when 
only twenty years of age, he distinguished himself in Italy, and in 
token of approbation his father gave him the title of Caesarovitch, or 
Son of Caesar. He was very proud of this title and retained it through 
life. At the battle of Austerlitz also he showed great personal bravery 
and began to gain popular favor as an officer. 

Although subject to fits of ferocious passion, he v^^as not a bad fellow 
at heart. He showed great reverence for the memory of his father; 
was the most tender and respectful of sons to his widowed mother, and 
he regarded his brother the Emperor with a blind idolatry. He was 
constantly with him, content to be a mere cipher by the side of the 
Great Tsar who was so dififerent from him in all respects. He always 
showed the most loyal and obsequious obedience to Alexander which 
was not surpassed by any of the Tsar's subjects. 

Becomes Governor of Poland. 

He also proved that a sympathetic heart lay beneath his rough 
exterior in the campaign of 1812, when many of the French wounded 
fell into his hands. If these unfortunate men had been his brothers he 
could not have treated them with greater kindness. 

In 1815 Alexander placed in his hand the military government of 
Poland, and this circumstance led to a chain of events which controlled 
his whole life. He started out with an extremely tyrannical rule. He 
shut himself up in his palace, being visible to the people only at military 
reviews, but he always took the greatest interest in the internal pros- 



THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 209 

perity of Poland, and soon learned to love his adopted country better 
than his own. The people of this unfortunate nation learned to under- 
stand him better, and, seeing that his intentions were good, he even 
attained to considerable popularity. 

A Marriage of Convenience. 

When a mere boy of seventeen his grandmother had attended to 
his- marriage. She had selected for him the Princess Julienne of Bel- 
gium, the bride at the time being a child of fifteen. There was no 
affection on either side, and two years after the marriage the couple 
separated by mutual consent, the young wife returning to her home, 
being provided for with a liberal pension and the title' of Grand Duchess. 
For many years Constantine showed no inclination to renew his mat- 
rimonial experience, but finally he fell madly in love with a young Polish 
Countess whom he married, having obtained a divorce from his first 
wife by Imperial ukase. 

This lady was endowed with a fragile and delicate constitution, but 
with great refinement of manner, and mental and moral charms to a 
remarkable degree. 

She seems to have completely changed the rough character of the 
eccentric Constantine, whose affections never for a moment swerved 
from their first and only object. He treated his wife v\^ith chivalrous 
devotion and tenderness to the end, and for her sake it was that he 
resigned the throne of Russia. 

Constantine Relinquishes His Title. 

His wife not being of royal birth the marriage was what is called 
"by the left hand," and Alexander only consented to It with the under- 
standing that Constantine at the same time relinquished his title to 
the crown. It is probable that the Tsar, appreciating the fantastic 
character of his brother, was convinced that it v/ould not be for the 
best interests of the empire for him to rule it, and, possibly, feared that 
his acts, should he come to the throne, might create the same sort 
of disturbance which had marked the unfortunate reign of his father. 



210 THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 

However this may be, he seems to have made this marriage a pretext 
for excluding Constantine from the succession, and it is only fair to 
say that the latter seems never to have regretted the result of the 
compact. The agreement had been secret, probably known only to the 
Emperor, his mother and the two brothers most concerned. The act 
of abdication was duly signed, sealed and deposited with the Council of 
State, to be opened only after Alexander's death. 

During his last illness Alexander had gone to the Crimea where 
the result was awaited with great anxiety, his condition being well 
understood by the public. Near the end he apparently made a re- 
markable change for the better, and a service of thanksgiving was 
ordered in the Royal Chapel, but in the midst of the Te Deum a mes- 
senger arrived and entering the church announced Alexander's death. 
The Empress-Mother fainted from the shock and her first words upon 
recovering were, "Poor Russia." She probably feared that Constantine 
would repent his act of abdication and that strife for the crown might 

ensue. 

Constantine Proclaimed Emperor. 

In this she was mistaken. Nicholas, however, demonstrated his 
willingness to avoid a struggle over the succession, and at once took 
the oath of allegiance to Constantine who was the lawful heir, and who 
was that very day proclaimed Emperor. Messengers were sent to 
Poland to see Constantine, and after an interim of three weeks, docu- 
ments came from him confirming his resignation in the most emphatic 
and solemn manner, and offering his allegiance to his brother Nicholas. 
Constantine seems to have taken this step freely and there were many 
reasons which moved him to this course. 

He probably realized that he was unfit to rule so vast an empire, 
and he knew also that his wife, a Roman Catholic, and not of royal 
birth, could never be received at the Russian Court with the honors 
due to an Empress, and that his children would be ineligible to the 
succession. Furthermore he had become more greatly interested in 
Poland than in Russia, and he prized above all things the quiet of 
his domestic life at Warsaw. 



THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 211 

Death and Exile. 

Curiously enough, Nicholas was obliged to face an insurrection 
against him at the very outset of his reign. None of the three brothers 
had been very popular in Russia, but Constantine was the favorite of 
the army, and the military party declared for him. Many citizens of 
the capital joined in revolt, feigning disbelief in the statement that 
Constantine had relinquished the throne of his own accord. Then, too, 
a prejudice against the autocracy had been steadily gaining ground 
for years and the country was ripe for rebellion, so that the alleged 
usurpation of Nicholas merely formed a convenient pretext. The new 
Emperor suppressed the uprising with great vigor and cruelty, and for 
the first time in eighty years the death penalty was restored, and many 
of the best and bravest men of the leading families of Russia perished 
on the scaffold, as the price of treason. Many more were sent into 
exile to Siberia, and for years Nicholas, who was implacable, continued 
to exile prominent people by the score for he never forgave or forgot 
the sin of disloyalty. 

An Absolute Despot. 

This attempt at revolution was unfortunate for Russia, because it 
embittered the mind of the Emperor who resolved to govern by his 
absolute will, an autocrat in the broadest sense of the word. He made 
himself the absolute despot. He loved Russia as a whole and desired 
her highest good, but he wanted to reform her in his own way and 
through himself, and he grew to believe himself infallible. It is said 
that he wished to abolish serfdom, but he dare not do it, for, with all 
his obstinacy, he was vacillating in purpose and usually failed to carry 
out plans which he formed. 

The Imperial Catechism. 

He prepared a catechism which was published for Russian children 
by his order in 1832. This text book was entitled "The Worship That 
Should be Rendered to the Emperor," and the following is a sample 
question : "How ought want of respect and fidelity toward the Emperor 
to be regarded?" 



212 THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 

Answer, "As the most detestable sin, as the most horrible crime." 
In another place in this catechism it is declared that disobedience 
to the Emperor is the same as disobedience to God himself, who will 
recompense homage and obedience to the Emperor In another world, 
and punish severely, throughout all eternity, those who fail to render 
them. 

And this was in vogue in the middle of the nineteenth century in 
a country regarded as enlightened. 

Rigid Press Censorship. 

He introduced a severe censorship of the press, a custom still in 
vogue in Russia, which weighs heavily upon the development of pub- 
lication. The period, however, was fertile in literature, especially in 
the field of poetry and romance, and the stage flourished. In 1826 the 
perpetual quarrels between Russia and Persia on the subject of the 
frontiers and the vassal tribes culminated in war. The Prince Royal 
of Persia was sent at the head of an army to march on Tiflis, but he 
received a check at the Fortress of Choucha by a heroic resistance 
which lasted for six weeks. The Russians thus had time to concentrate 
their forces, and at Elizabethpol defeated the Persian advance eighteen 
thousand strong, having in their own army only ten thousand men, 
and with the same force dispersed the Persian main army forty-four 
thousand strong, pushing the remnant in retreat across the Araxes 
River. After continued successes the Russian commander set out for 
Teheran, the Persian capital, but the Shah in alarm hastened to make 
a treaty of peace which was signed February 22, 1828. By this war 
Russia gained two provinces and an indemnity of twenty million, and 
important commercial advantages to Russian subjects in Persia. The 
River Araxes became the frontier. 

The Eastern Question. 

The war came very near being renewed the following year through 
the massacre of the Russian Legation at Teheran, but it was averted 
by prompt disavowal by the Persian government, and the further fact 
that Nicholas was engaged in war with Turkey. The result, however, 



THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 213 

was that Persia became day by day more subject to Russian influence, 
to the great disgust of England, where the so-called Eastern question 
was taking possession of the public mind, and the dread of Russia's 
advance toward India became the British bugaboo which it has re- 
mained to the present day. 

Nicholas Issues an Ultimatum to the Porte. 

Nicholas became the ardent champion of the Greeks, and insisted 
that the Sultan should put an end to the policy of extermination, and 
demanded satisfaction for bloody outrages which had been inflicted 
on Orthodox Christians from time to time, with ever increasing fre- 
quency. In March, 1826, he presented his ultimatum to the Porte 
demanding the evacuation of the Danubian Principalities, the autonomy 
of Servia, and other things, all tending to diminish the prestige of 
the Sultan in his European dominions, and a guarantee of the rights of 
the Orthodox Christians. The other powers of Europe interested them- 
selves in the cause of the Greeks, especially the English Government. 
The French also energetically supported the Tsar in the demand for 
Greek autonomy. The Porte resisted these demands and sent an army 
to the lower peninsula of Greece. Charles X, of France, who was the 
friend of Nicholas, ordered the landing of troops to resist the Turks, 
and the French navy fell upon the Turkish squadron, and, at the battle 
of Naverino, destroyed it. Turkey now declared war on the Powers, 
and the Russian army advanced to attack the Porte's dominions in both 
Europe and Asia. Wallachi and Moldavia were occupied, the Danube 
was crossed, and Shumla, the famous Russian stronghold, was taken. 
In Asia the Russians stormed the Fortress of Kars. The war ended in 
a peace at Adrianople, by the terms of which Russia got a little terri- 
tory about the mouth of the Danube, and the independence of Greece 
was recognized. This was in 1829. 

The Spirit of Revolution. 

In the meantime troubles of a serious nature beset Nicholas on 
every hand. In 1830 the Asiatic cholera invaded the country, reaching 



214 THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 

Moscow with dire results. Worse than all was the trouble in Poland. 
The spirit of revolution, which was ripe all over Europe, could not 
but make itself felt in a country whose history from the earliest times 
had been one of political turmoil. The growth of secret societies, which 
had their nest in Paris, undermined every other government on the 
continent, and were specially flourishing in Poland and Russia, where 
a sort of underground revolution was prepared and smoldered, only 
waiting for a convenient opportunity to break out. The Poles had 
several grievances against Constantine, the Tsar's brother, as well as 
the Emperor himself. They clamored for the restoration of their old 
constitution; the army desired to take part in the war against Turkey, 
and the Poles wished to have the Lithuanian provinces restored to their 
kingdom. 

The Rebellion at Warsaw. 

All these aspirations had been denied them under Constantine, and 
finally, on the 17th of November, there was an open insurrection at 
Warsaw headed by a party of students, and pandemonium broke loose ; 
the palace was attacked and Constantine himself barely escaped. Of 
course, the Emperor Nicholas could not brook such doings, and he 
immediately proceeded to put down the revolt. It cost a bloody war 
and the better part of a year to accomplish it, but when he was through 
there was no more Poland on the map. 

This insurrection had resulted, among other things, in developing 
a pronounced hostility to the French who had deposed Charles X and 
placed Louis Philippe on the throne. The Tsar considered that the 
chief cause of the rebellion had been the influence of French revolu- 
tionary ideas, and he became the outspoken enemy of the Paris Gov- 
ernment. In December, 1832, when Nicholas went to the aid of the 
Sultan, with a view to driving back the Egyptians who threatened 
Constantinople, France protested, and, in company with England, in- 
terfered, causing the withdrawal of the Russian forces and also the 
retreat of the Egyptian army. This interference of the Western nations 
led to an offensive and defensive alliance which practically made Turkey 



THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 215 

dependent upon the Tsar. In the face of the protest, however, the 
treaty was never executed. 

The Coalition of the Great Powers. 

When the war between Egypt and Turkey was renewed, in 1839, 
France taking sides with the former, England deserted her because she 
was anxious, as she always has been, to maintain the integrity of the 
Ottoman Empire. The English Government, therefore, joined the con- 
spiracy with Russia, whose aim was to exclude France from the assembly 
of European Powers, and in July, 1840, the treaty of London was con- 
cluded between Great Britain, Russia, Austria and Prussia, by which 
France was isolated, and therefore could not proceed with her designs 
in Egypt, unable to face such a coalition. 

England was soon compelled, however, to again change her alliance 
in order to save Constantinople from falling into the hands of Russia. 

The Schemes of the Russian Emperor. 

Nicholas could not escape the shock of the revolutions of 1848, 
which shattered the foundations of every continental power. The 
uprisings in Germany, Hungary, Italy, France and the Danubian coun- 
tries were infectious, and the spirit of revolt against the monarchical 
system which had caused these disturbances spread throughout the 
Russian Empire. The Tsar had of necessity to take up arms to defend 
his authority and unite with the Emperor of Austria in the suppression 
of a combined insurrection by the Hungarians and Poles. In the mean- 
time, Turkey, encouraged by France, seemed about to break loose from 
the Tsar's influence and revoke his right of protectorate over the East- 
ern Christians which had been assured to him by the peace of Adrian- 
ople. He therefore demanded new guarantees, which the Porte refused. 
England hesitated to take part in the quarrel, but on the 9th of Jan- 
uary, 1853, two private interviews between Nicholas and the British 
Ambassador revealed to the latter's government the ultimate aim of 
all the Emperor's schemes. His object was nothing less than to wind 
up Turkey and form independent states on the Danube under Russian 



2i6 THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 

protection, and establish himself at Constantinople. England was to be 
allowed to take such territories as suited her convenience, provided she 
did not include Constantinople. Nicholas suggested to the British 
Minister that they unite their forces for carrying out this plan, without 
reference to how the proceeding might be relished by France or Austria, 
The Emperor flattered himself that he could carry his day with 
the English because the idea never entered his head that Napoleon IH 
could bring about an alliance with Great Britain with the memory of 
Waterloo still rankling in the French mind. He therefore imprudently 
confided his plans to the British Ambassador and made such an alliance 
possible. England took fright at the prospect of the Tsar commanding 
the Dardanelles and turned to France to urge her to more energetic 
measure in the East. 

Russia Face to Face with Europe. 

On the 3d of July, 1853, Nicholas set out in earnest on this scheme 
of Russian aggrandizement, his army crossing the frontier. England 
and France gathered their fleets in the vicinity of Constantinople and 
awaited results. Turkey brought matters to a crisis by demanding that 
Russia evacuate the Danubian Principalities, and precipitated war. On 
November 30, 1853, the destruction of the Turkish fleet by the Russian 
Admiral at Sinope destroyed all hope of localizing the war, and the 
French and English fleets having entered the Bosphorus, now sailed 
into the Black Sea and obliged the Russian warships to withdraw into 
ports. The superiority of the navy of the Allies enabled them to attack 
Russia in all her seas. In the Black Sea they bombarded the Port of 
Odessa in April, 1854, and in the Baltic they blockaded Cronstadt, and, 
disembarking, took the Fortress of Bomarsund in August. In 1855 
they made hostile demonstrations in the White Sea, and on the Pacific 
they blockaded the Siberian ports and threatened the position of the 
Russians on the River Amur. Austria and Prussia likewise made an 
alliance, offensive and defensive, and the former concentrated an army 
along the Russian frontier. Thus Nicholas found himself practically 
face to face with the rest of Europe. 



THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 217 

Tired of the Situation. 

The Russians, menaced by the Austrian concentration on the 
Danube, and by the disembarkation of the French and EngHsh at 
GalHpoH and Varna respectively, made a desperate attempt to take 
Sillistria, but failed after a siege lasting from April to July. In the mean- 
time the French operations on the lower Danube had no military re- 
sults, but the army was wasted by cholera and fevers. All the con- 
tending Powers seemed to be tired of the situation, and the Russians 
fell back from the Danube, the Austrians taking possession of the 
Principalities through an understanding with the European Powers and 
the Sultan. 

With the close of the war on the Danube, however, that of the 

Crimea began. 

The Crimean War Begins. 

The generals of the EngHsh, French and Turkish armies held a 
counsel at Varna in July and resolved upon the campaign. On the 
14th of September five hundred ships landed the expeditionary troops, 
and on the 20th the battle of Alma was fought, in which the Russians 
were defeated and the way to Sebastopol was opened. 

This was a shock to Russia. Since the ill-fated expedition of 
Napoleon to Moscow in 1812 no enemy had ever set foot on her soil. 
The Crimea, protected by a formidable fleet, impregnable fortresses 
and a large army, had been deemed secure from all attack. Now the 
army was beaten, the Black Sea fleet which had retreated to the harbor 
of Sebastopol served only to obstruct the channel. Sebastopol itself 
was so badly protected and armed that undoubtedly the allies could 
have stormed it immediately upon their arrival, but their delay gave 
time for its fortification. The Russians set to work soldiers, sailors 
and citizens and in a few days reared a rampart of earthworks with a 
marvelous exhibition of skill and activity. The redoubts and ramparts 
of the Center of the Mast, of the two Redans, and of the Malakof, 
afterwards celebrated in history, all rose as if by magic, bristling with 
guns taken from the useless fleet. Fourteen or fifteen thousand sailors 



2i8 THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 

came to reinforce the garrison. The three Russian admirals, all des- 
tined to die on the bastion of the Malakof, directed the defence. 

Balaklava and Inkermann. 

The Allies had marched on the Port of Balaklava which they had 
captured as a base of supplies. They took up a position on the south 
side of the city, while by the bridges over the great harbor on the 
north side the beleaguered place communicated freely with the Russian 
field army, from which it could constantly receive supplies and rein- 
forcements. It was, in fact, less a city besieged by an army than two 
armies intrenched opposite each other and keeping all their com- 
munications open. Several times the Allies were interrupted in their 
siege operations by the Russian field army and they had to give battle 
at Balaklava in October, at Inkermann in November, and at Europatia 
the following February. 

While the Allies dug trenches, sapped and mined, gradually boring 
their way into the Russian possession, their industrious enemy also 
strengthened the fortifications and built new ones. The Allies were 
obliged to undergo the hardships of a severe winter, but they estab- 
lished themselves more and more strongly in this little corner of the 
Crimea where they faced all the forces of the Russian Empire. 

Death of Nicholas. 

In the meantime, in the midst of the siege, in March, 1855, Nicholas 
died, and left to his son and heir, Alexander II, the enormous difficulties 
which beset the country. The new Emperor was thirty-seven years old 
at the time, and he was well fitted to cope with the complicated situation 
which faced him. 

His first care was to terminate upon honorable conditions the war 
which was exhausting Russia. Negotiations were at once opened, 
through the Court of Vienna, with a view to a settlement of this so- 
called Eastern question. The Western Powers could not agree upon 
the guarantees to be exacted from Russia. France demanded the 
neutralization of the Black Sea, or the limitation of the number of ves- 
sels which the Tsar might keep in it. 



THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 219 

A Bad Outlook for the New Emperor. 

In the meantime the siege continued, Sardina took a hand in the 
game and sent twenty thousand men tolhe"TE?rstT- Austria had engaged 
in December, 1854, to defend the principalities of the Danube against 
Russia, and Prussia had agreed to protect Austria. Napoleon III and 
Queen Victoria made visits to each other at their respective capitals. 
All together things did not look pleasant for Alexander 11. 

On the night of May 22 the Russians made two sorties from 
Sebastopol, which were repulsed, and the Allies retorted by an expedi- 
tion, destroying several military establishments and occupying the Sea 
of Azof, thus leaving the Russians but one base of supplies and greatly 
crippling their enemies. In the meantime also the Turks induced the 
Circassians to revolt. Finally, June 7, after all the weary months which 
had elapsed from the previous autumn, the French took by assault three 
redoubts, and on the i8th the French assailed the Malakof, while the 
English charged the Redan. They failed to carry these works, being 
repulsed with a loss of over three thousand men. 

The Russians displayed a tenacious bravery and reckless intrepidity 
which set at naught the most strenuous efforts of the Allies to rout 
them from their position. They thus maintained themselves against 
English, French and Italians until the loth of September, when Sebas- 
topol fell after a siege of three hundred and thirty-six days. The last 
twenty-eight days of the siege the Russians lost eighteen thousand men. 
A million and a half bullets, bombs, shells and grenades had been thrown 
into the town. The French had dug fifty miles of trenches and over four 
thousand feet of mines before one bastion alone. They had pushed 
their lines to one hundred feet of the Malakof. 

The Evacuation of Sebastopol. 

The firing was so heavy that it was distinctly heard for a distance 
of sixty'two miles. Under this fusillade the Russian bastions crumbled. 
bomb-proofs were smashed, and their gunners fell by hundreds while 



220 THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 

serving their pieces. The garrison was so hard pressed that they had 
no longer time to repair breaches made by the batteries. As many 
as seventy thousand projectiles were fired into the town in a single day. 
Finally, on the 8th of September, the batteries suddenly ceased firing 
at twelve o'clock, and the French threw themselves on the Malakof, 
gaining a lodgment and holding their position in spite of all efforts to 
drive them out. Sebastopol was no longer tenable and the following 
day the evacuation began, the Russians burning and blowing up every- 
thing in their rear, retreating to the north side of the harbor. 

Russia did not yet, however, seem ready to submit, and the Emperor 
Alexander encouraged bravery in his troops by staying with the army. 
But it could no longer be disguised that Russia must have peace. The 
war had cost 250,000 men, the banks paid only in paper money, and 
the public refused that of the government. PubHc credit was at the 
lowest ebb. Finally a Congress was called to meet at Paris on the 
25th of February, 1856. 

France, England, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, Turkey and Russia 
were parties to it. A peace was signed on the 30th of March following, 
by the terms of which Russia renounced her exclusive right of protec- 
tion over the Danubian Principalities, and all interference with their 
internal affairs. The free navigation of the Danube was to be secured 
by the establishment of a Commission in which all the contracting 
parties should be represented. Each of them should have the right to 
station two sloops of war at the mouth of the river. Russia consented 
to a rectification of frontiers which should leave to Turkey and Rou- 
mania all the delta of the Danube; the Black Sea was made neutral 
and her waters opened to merchant ships of all nations, but men of 
war were forbidden, whether of the Powers on her coasts or of any 
others. No military or marine arsenals were to be created there. 
Russia and Turkey could only maintain ten lightships to watch the coast. 
The Sultan of Turkey was bound to permit free religious privileges to 
his non-Mussulman subjects, but this clause was not to be construed 
to give the Powers the right to interfere between the Sultan and his 
subjects. 



THE FIGHT FOR THE BOSPHORUS. 221 

The Result of the Crimean War. 

Thus, as the result of the Crimean War and the Treaty of Paris 
which formulated it, Russia lost the domination of the Black Sea and 
the protectorate of the Eastern Christians. 

The fruits of the policy of Peter I, Catherine H and Alexander I, 
which had aimed at unlocking Russia by a port on the unfrozen sea 
were, therefore, annihilated by this document. The hasty policy of 
Nicholas had compromised the work of two centuries, and with it lost 
to Russia valuable dom.ains which she was destined afterward to shed 
much blood to recover. 



CHAPTER XVII. 
THE STKUGGLE FOU THE UNFROZEN SEA 

The Serfs Liberated — Internal Disturbances — Russia Advances Into Asia Minor — The 
First Pacific Port — Eelations Between Eussia and the United States — War with 
Turkey — The Emperor Assassinated — The Eeign of Alexander III — His Son Ascends 
the Throne. 

LEXANDER II came to the throne of a prostrated and humiliated 
empire. The first step necessary was the recuperation, under 
peace, but in the effort to carry out this benign pohcy the new Emperor 
was beset on every hand by internal turmoils and foreign suspicion. 

White Slavery Abolished. 

One of the first things he resolved upon was to carry out the 
policy of Nicholas with reference to the serfs and do what his father 
had desired, but could not accomplish, namely,- to abolish white slavery 
altogether. This was accomplished in 1861. Internal disturbances 
recurred constantly, and in 1863 there was a rebellion by the Poles. 
Having suppressed this insurrection with some difficulty, and the road 
to the Mediterranean being blocked as the result of the Crimean War, 
Alexander turned his attention toward extending his empire in Asia 
Minor. The Caucasus had been pacified in 1859 by the capture of the 
famous Circassian chief, Schamyl, and those of his people who could 
not abide by Russian rule migrated to Turkey, where they have ever 
since formed one of the most lawless and turbulent elements in the 
motley empire of the Sultan. 

In 1865 the Russians took the city of Pashkene, and the government 
of Turkestan was established in 1867. These advances Into Asia Minor 
greatly alarmed England, and a large percentage of the British nation 
from that day to this has never been able to recover from the conviction 
that Russia's real object was and is to seize India. During all these 

22.2 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNFROZEN SEA. 223 

years the British press has been in a state of periodical alarm. Russia, 
however, has still advanced her frontiers, and in fact continues to do so, 
except that at the present moment the field of operations is in the Far 
East instead of toward India, and the Arabian Gulf. 

Treaty with China. 

In this connection It may be stated that Alexander II made a very 
long step toward the East when, in 1858, he made a treaty with China 
which recognized the authority of Russia throughout all that vast 
region on the left bank of the River Amor, clear to its mouth, near 
w^hich he established the first port on the Pacific at Vladivostok. 

Perhaps the commercial aspirations of the empire would have been 
satisfied with this achievement but for the fact that during four months 
of the year this port is blocked with ice, and its possession did not 
relieve Russia from the position of a land-locked empire. 

America and Russia on Good Terms. 

It was during the reign of Alexander II that the relations between 
the United States and Russia became especially friendly. This govern- 
ment and the Autocracy had always from the start been on good terms. 
It is said that even during our revolution Catherine II, with Frederick 
the Great, connived at the loss of England's American colonies, and 
had encouraged France to lend us money and send the fleets of 
D'Estang, and the army of Rochambeau, which wound up the conflict 
at Yorktown. We never had done much business with Russia, and it 
must be admitted that for the first eighty or ninety years of our exist- 
ence as an independent nation our relations had been rather formal and 
our friendship purely official and perfunctory. Perhaps the fact that 
England was always opposing the aspirations of the Tsar, we naturally 
wished the Russians well, so long as the recollections of our old trouble 
with the mother country rankled in the breasts of the American people. 

Attitude of Russia During the Civil War. 

When we came face to face with a colossal civil war of our own, in 
1861-65, our foreign relations took such a turn that the American people 



224 THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNFROZEN SEA. 

became the fast friends of Russia, and that sentiment has grown up with 
the present generation so that the unfortunate circumstances of the past 
two or three years which have brought an estrangement gave pubHc 
sentiment in this country a decided and unpleasant shock. 

Hostility of the British Government. 

The success of the Union cause was constantly menaced by the 
hostility of the British Government. The English Prime Minister un- 
questionably desired to recognize the Southern Confederacy. The 
commercial interests of Great Britain were greatly injured by the war. 
At that time she was the principal mianufacturing nation of the world, 
and one of her principal industries was in cotton. The spinners of 
Manchester clamored for raw material. The American blockade closed 
the ports of the Confederacy. The cotton was locked up. The success 
of the Union also meant the abolition of slavery in the South. It was 
believed that without slave labor cheap cotton could not be produced 
to supply English mills. Furthermore, British investors bought mil- 
lions of dollars' worth of bonds of the Southern Confederacy, furnishing 
the Davis government in return quantities of ammunition, which found 
its way into the Southern States through the blockade at Wilmington; 
thus, for example, Lee's army left on the battlefield of Gettysburg 
thousands of boxes of musket-cartridges and shells in British cases. All 
this embittered the North toward England, and after the war was over 
the people of the South were likewise displeased because the British 
Premier had not done what we feared he would do, that is, lead the 
way toward a European recognition of the Southern Confederacy, and 
the establishment of the independence of the Richmond Government. 

Our ancient friend, France, was an empire under Louis Napoleon, 
and hostile, having designs for the extension of French conquests on 
the Western Hemisphere. 

Russian Fleet Enters New York Bay. 

In this predicament, and when the North was so oppressed, Alex- 
ander II came to Mr. Lincoln's relief and sent to New York and to 
San Francisco a splendid fleet, at that time formidable, as compared with 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNFROZEN SEA. 225 

the rest of the world, and gave the London and Paris governments to 
understand that they must keep their hands off the American fight, or 
else Russia must be reckoned w^ith as an active participant in the 
contest. 

This act of Russia has never been forgotten, and when the two and 
a half millions of young men who had worn the blue uniform went 
back to the walks of peace, they reared children who were taught that 
Russia had come to the relief of the cause for which their fathers fought 
when help was sadly needed. 

Russia-America Sold the United States. 

This was what caused the friendship between the two governments 
of Washington and St. Petersburg. 

In 1867 also, while Mr. Seward was still Secretary of State, Alex- 
ander II sold us all Russian America, that vast area which added one- 
third to the territory of the United States and gave us command of the 
Pacific Ocean at the expense of Great Britain. 

Alexander II began to construct the great railroad system in Asia 
which now, practically finished, stretches seven thousand miles from the 
Caspian on the west to the Sea of Japan on the east. 

Two Attempts Upon the Czar*s Life. 

However sagacious and amiable was the Tsar, he could not create 
a condition of loyal satisfaction among his own people. Constant 
attempts were made upon his life, and April 16, 1866, he was shot at 
by a man named Karakozoff in St. Petersburg. In the following year 
another attempt upon his life was made by a Pole named Berezowski, 
while Alexander was in Paris on a visit to Napoleon III. 

Russo-Turkish War. 

The principal war of Alexander's reign was that with Turkey, in 
1877-78. Ever since the Crimea, which had fastened Turkish authority 
upon the principalities of the Danube, which were largely Christian, 
almost continuous complaint was made on account of Moslem persecu- 



226 THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNFROZEN SEA. 

tions. The Turkish Government either connived at, or at least per- 
mitted, murders, burnings, and all sorts of inhuman practices by her 
officials and irregular troops. So loud became these complaints and so 
frequent the outrages that the civilized world became deeply interested 
in the affairs of the Balkan States, and especially in the fate of the 
Christians of Bulgaria. Mr. Gladstone thundered against the horrible 
Turk. The German court made representations and Gortskakoff, the 
Tsar's Prime Minister, threatened. The Bulgarian cry -never abated. 
Finally the Tsar decided that he would resort to force, and at the same 
time no doubt flattered himself that the opportunity had at last come 
for seizing Constantinople and opening a free road to the Mediterranean 
and the Atlantic, with a port whose waters never froze. 

A great army was hurled upon Turkey, crossing the Danube in the 
face of fierce opposition at Widim and Rusdchuck, and pressing on 
toward the Balkan passes. Although successful at every step, it was 
no trifling matter to conquer the so-called "sick man." The Turkish 
army proved to be made of valiant stuff. The losses were heavy, and 
the winter found the Russians struggling in the snows of Shipka Pass 
under Ghourka and the splendid Skobeleff, while Osman Pasha held 
Plevna in spite of the gallant assaults of the greatest army Russia ever 
put in the field. 

The Lesson of Plevna. 

The assault upon Plevna emphasized the lesson which military men 
had failed to thoroughly learn before. It had been seen that the Eng- 
lish and French could not storm the Malakof and the Redans in 1855 ; 
Grant's splendid army had been repulsed in 1863, when it tried to climb 
the works of Vicksburg and Port Hudson ; the magnificent charge by 
moonlight on Fort Wagner had only resulted in death and destruction 
to its assailants, and still the vast host of Russia were sent forward by 
its intrepid commanders to do the impossible at Plevna. 

The assault failed, as it had failed at Sebastopol, Vicksburg and 
Wagner. Military students at last agreed upon the proposition that 
a modern earthwork bravely defended by a competent force cannot 
be carried by assault. 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UIn FROZEN SEA. 22'j 

Osman Pasha Surrenders. 

The Russians settled down to a long winter siege, and it was months 
later when Osman Pasha finally yielded to starvation and surrendered. 
The Russian force pressed forward, and in 1878 camped under the walls 
of Constantinople. 

The unfrozen sea was in sight. A treaty was made with Turkey at 
San Stefano only to be torn to pieces at the dictation of Bismarck and 
Disraeli at the Congress of the powers at Berlin. The result of it all 
was that Russia practically got nothing as the reward of blood and 
treasure squandered in this last attempt to expel the Turk from Europe. 
The arrangement of the Balkan States then made still exists. Bulgaria 
was divided, the southern portion being formed into the province of 
Eastern Roumelia, with a Christian Governor to be appointed by the 
Porte. Austria acquired a Protectorate over Bosnia and Hercegovina. 
Servia and Montenegro remained independent, while Macedonia and 
Albania were still left to the tender mercies of the Turk. 

Russia was more fortunate, however, in Asia, gaining considerably 
in area of possessions, pressing her conquests up to the very frontier 
of Afghanistan, to the disgust of the Court of St. James. In fact, the 
cry, "The Russians at the gates of Herat," almost became a slogan of 
battle, and Great Britain and Russia for years thereafter trembled upon 
the hrink of war. 

Growth of the Revolutionary Movement. 

The growth of the Nihilist or secret revolutionary party in Russia 
was extremely rapid during the latter part of Alexander's reign, and 
all efforts to suppress these societies effectually seemed to come to 
nothing. A third attempt was made upon the life of the Emperor when, 
April 14, 1879, a man named Solovioff shot at him. The same year an 
effort was made to wreck the train by which the Tsar was traveling 
from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Finally, as the result of a conspiracy, 
he was murdered. March 13, 1881, by the explosion of a dynamite bomb 
thrown at his sleigh, while driving in the Newsky Prospect in St. Peters- 



228 THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNFROZEN SEA. 

burg. Although horribly mangled, he lived to speak to the miscreant 
who threw the infernal machine and some hours later expired, sur- 
rounded by his family. 

Thus ended the career of a man whose life was one of turmoil and 
trouble from the start of his reign. There is no doubt that he wished 
to do the best possible for his country, and having freed the serfs he 
was actually upon the point of proclaiming a constitutional government 
at the very time when he fell a victim to the mad policy of those im- 
placable theorists who believe that the killing of lawful rulers is the 
sure way to the cure of human ills. 

Alexander III Ascends the Throne. 

Alexander III succeeded to the throne, and, while an amiable man, 
he lacked the comprehensive views of his predecessor. He pressed 
forward the work of constructing the Trans-Caspian railway, but other- 
wise he was chiefly occupied in his self-appointed mission to more 
thoroughly establish throughout the empire the Holy Orthodox Greek 
Church of Russia. In keeping with this plan, he endeavored through- 
out his reign to keep all power in his own hands, and to control abso- 
lutely his ministers. He found the task of personally governing an 
empire stretching one-third the way round the earth to be a task beyond 
human endurance. The effort killed him in the prime of his manhood. 
Although naturally a giant in stature, he had been endowed with 
physical strength unsurpassed by any man of his generation. In his 
private life, the Emperor was an exemplary man. He married a daugh- 
ter of the King of Denmark, a sister of the present Queen of England, 

and King of Greece. 

Character of the Czar. 

In religion he was not only devout but almost a fanatic. He allowed 
the idea of church supremacy to take such possession of him that, 
though of a kindly disposition, he was led into persecution against Jews, 
Lutherans, Mennonites, and other non-conformists. He carried the 
matter so far that people were sent into exile because of religious in- 
subordination. The Emperor was, no doubt, well meaning and con- 



THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNFROZEN SEA. 229 

scientious, but, as a Russian writer has said, he was like an apothecary 
who should dispense strychnine for quinine, and whose conscientiousness 
could not save the victim of his mistake. The result was that the most 
kind-hearted of men became a cruel persecutor. One of the Emperor's 
decisions that bore very hard upon a large number of respectable fam- 
ilies was not to permit the employment of any but Orthodox Russians 
in positions of responsibility, and especially upon railroads, where, by 
superior education and intelligence, a large proportion of employees 
such as inspectors, station-masters, conductors and engineers were 
Poles, Germans from the Baltic Provinces, and other non-conformists. 
As the railroads in Russia are under government control, the lines were 
drawn closer and closer until these offensive religionists were finally 
all dismissed. One of the last roads upon which the un-Orthodox were 
discharged to make places for members of the State Church was the 
road to Smolensk, and soon after it happened a plot was discovered to 
blow up the Tsar's train on this line. This was in 1894. 

Enter Nicholas II. 
The discovery of this mine was a mere accident, but the inquiries 
that followed showed a carefully-laid plot, in which numerous con- 
spirators had planned to kill the Tsar, and, without exception, these 
conspirators were found to be Orthodox Russian officials. It was for 
these men that the Tsar had caused to be dismissed the mistrusted* 
Poles and Germans, The discovery of this fact, which was established 
beyond a doubt, dispelled in a moment the fondest illusions which had 
controlled the policy of Alexander's administration from the first. The 
discovery killed him. His health began to fail, and he sank day by day 
under a complication of ailments which had their origin in the moral 
afflictions caused by a sense of realization that all he had done had been 
for nothing. He had persecuted, exiled, banished, punished, and sup- 
pressed and oppressed his people for the sake of the Church, and then 
it was an empty disappointment. This failure of an honest man was 
pathetic. Finally he died, at Lividia, having as the most consoling thing 
in his latter days arranged for the happy marriage of his son Nicholas 
II, who succeeded him November i, 1895. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
NICHOLAS II 

A Puny Boy — Falls in Love with a Ballet Dancer — Travels Abroad — Attempted Assassi- 
nation — The Meaning of Loyalty — The Mikado Orders the Would-be Murderer to be 
Executed — ^Marriage — Coronation — A Disciple of Peace — ^Finland — Character of Nich- 
olas IL 

WE HAVE now traced the history of Russia briefly but as com- 
pletely as the space allotted in this work will allow. We have 
seen at the dawn of historical records the beginnings of the Slavs when 
they were simply barbarous tribes. We have watched the Asiatic 
migrations of antiquity and those of the Middle Ages when the hordes 
of Genghis-Khan and Tamerlane overran the country, leaving the Tartar 
imprint upon the nation and its institutions. We have traced the line 
of Rurik and then the rise of Moscow, and the family of Michael 
Romanoff. 

A New Conflict for an Old Goal. 

We have followed the course of the expansion of the empire; of its 
advance into Asia toward the East and toward the South; its struggles 
with Poland and the Teutonic peoples on the West; the aspirations for 
the unlocking of the empire, and the efforts to reach an unfrozen sea; 
the battles with the Turk; the hostility of Western Europe, and the 
triumphs of arms and diplomacy which have resulted in almost reaching 
the shores of the Persian Gulf on the one hand, and the Mediterranean 
on the other, and now we come to the present Emperor, and we find 
him against his will, it must be said, in the midst of a new conflict 
for the same old goal — a harbor without ice. 

When Nicholas Alexandrovitch came to the throne of the Roman- 
offs, November i, 1895, he was in his twenty-sixth year and little was 
known of him, except that in personal appearance. he _was almost the- 

230 



NICHOLAS 11. 231 

exact counterpart of his cousin, the present Prince of Wales. In fact, 
these two young men looked so much alike that the photograph of one 
could scarcely be told from the other, unless they wore their decora- 
tions. Presumably they are not unlike in character, as their mothers 

were sisters. 

Family Life of a Czar. 

The etiquette which prevails in Russia forbids the publication of 
much about the private life of the family of a czar. ~ It is known, how- 
ever, that Alexander brought up his children in the strictest manner. 
Their domestic life was quiet, and as unobtrusive as that of any well- 
to-do citizen. We have seen how strict a churchman was Alexander 
III, and his religion was not perfunctory. He was not only devout 
himself, but his habits coincided with his belief, and control the morals 
of his household. Then, too, the Danish princess who was his wife was 
a most exemplary woman. Her children were all in all to her, and her 
influence, coupled with the severe restrictions of the father, resulted in 
making the young grand dukes men of good habits and uncompromising 
moral convictions.' Unfortunately, the Czarina was endowed with a 
delicate constitution, which her children inherited, rather than the 
strong physique of their father. Thus it happened that Nicholas was 
a rather puny boy, while his brother George was consumptive. Their 
delicate condition doubtless was aggravated by the ideas of their father, 
which led him to adopt for his children customs which he considered 
necessary to harden them. They were caused to expose themselves in 
inclement weather, and to engage in constant and laborious exercise, 
which overtaxed their strength. 

The Youth of Nicholas. 

Once a year the entire family was taken to visit their grandparents 
at Copenhagen, and these were holiday times for the boys, who, as they 
came to young manhood and were old enough to appear in society, 
made the most of the opportunity. One of the few stories published 
about the present Czar is to the effect that once at a ball at Copen- 
hagen he invited a lady to waltz. The youth kept on and on, whirling 



232 NICHOLAS 11. 

round the floor, until the lady was upon the point of fainting. The 
young man finally realized that he was overtaxing his partner, and led 
her to a seat, when he said in apology, "Excuse me. Countess^ I 
wanted to show that the Crown Prince of Russia is not weak." 

His inexperience in society naturally led the young man to a very 
early and awkward love affair. There is no question about it that he 
was desperately smitten. The object of his love was a ballet dancer, 
and, oh horrors, a Jewess! It seems the young lady was not only 
beautiful and charming in face and manner, but of an unquestioned 
character for virtue. 

His First Love Affair. 

The young man was in trouble. He could not marry outside of the 
royal blood, without the formal consent of his father, and he hastened 
to St. Petersburg to lay the matter before his royal parent. He pro- 
posed to follow the example of the Grand Duke Constantine, brother of 
Alexander I, who had renounced the throne for the Polish Countess, 
Janet Grudinsky. He preferred his Jewish ballet dancer to the crown. 
He desired to abdicate in favor of his brother George. 

Naturally his father would not listen to the proposition. All his 
life he had regarded a Jew with horror. Furthermore, it was not 
possible to put George upon the throne on account of his declining 
health. Consumption had early marked him as its inevitable victim. 
The young man was commanded to give up his Jewess and prepare 
himself for the duties and troubles which are the lot of a Czar of 
Russia, and to contemplate only a marriage in due time which should 
accord with the demands of the state. 

Travels in Foreign Lands. 

In order to distract his mind and wean him from this ill-considered 
love affair, it was decided to send him abroad. This trip resulted in 
two very important things — one was that he almost lost his life in 
Japan; the second, that he had an opportunity to travel clear across 
his empire, a circumstance which makes him the first Tsar who has 
ever seen his far eastern possessions. He was accompanied on this 



NICHOLAS II. 233 

trip by Prince George of Greece, his cousin, and by Prince Ouchtomsky, 
who has written an account of the tour. 

The party visited Kioto, the old capital of Japan, and spent the 
morning in an excursion to Otzu, taking luncheon with the prefect of the 
district in that little town, and, as ordinary carriages could not be used 
in that part of the country, they started to return to Kioto in jin- 
rikshas. 

This vehicle is a small cart, drawn by a man, and is a common 
means of conveyance in Japan. Up to this point the tour had been 
uneventful and much like that which is experienced by the ordinary 
traveler. What happened is best told in a letter of Prince George of 
Greece to his father, which tells the story of that eventful day. May 11, 
1891. It was one of those days when the destinies of nations hang upon 
a very slender thread. 

A Thrilling Incident. 

Prince George writes : "We passed through a narrow street, dec- 
orated with flags and filled with crowds of people on both sides of the 
thoroughfare. I was looking toward the left when I suddenly heard 
something like a shriek in front of me and saw a policeman hitting 
Nicky a blow on the head with a sword, which he held in both hands, 
Nicky jumped out of the jinriksha and the man ran after him; Nicky 
with blood streaming down his face. When I saw this, I too jumped 
out with my stick in my hand and ran after the man, who was about 
fifteen yards in front of me. Nicky ran into a shop, but came out 
immediately, which enabled the man to overtake him; but I, thank 
God, I was there in the same moment, and while the policeman still 
had his sword high in the air, I gave him a blow straight on the head, 
a blow so hard that he has probably never experienced a similar one 
before. He now turned against me, but fainted and fell to the ground; 
then two of our jinriksha pullers appeared on the scene, one got hold 
of his legs while the other took up the sword which he had dropped 
in falling and gave him a wound in the back of his head. It is God 
who placed me there at that moment, and gave me strength to deal 
the blow; for had I been a little later the policeman had perhaps cut 



234 NICHOLAS II. 

off Nicky's head, and had my blow missed the assailant's head he would 
have cut off mine. The whole thing happened so quickly that the others 
who were behind had seen nothing of the whole affair. Nicky sat down; 
Doctor Plambach bandaged the wound as well as he could, and then 
escorted by soldiers who had in the meantime been called, we drove 
him back to the Governor's house. A firmer bandage was put on, and 
we remained in the house about an hour and a half. I must say I 
admire Nicky's pluck. He did not faint a single time, nor did he lose 
his good spirits for a moment, and yet he had two large wounds in the 
head above the ear. The one wound was five centimeters long, the 
other six, and both had penetrated to the skull, but luckily got no 
further." It is needless to say that this episode made a sensation. 

The Festivities Abandoned. 

It appears that the policeman who committed the outrage was an 
old sergeant-major who had been decorated for gallant service and was 
much trusted. He seems to have been very much prejudiced against 
foreigners generally, but above all he hated Russians. 

When the party got back to the Governor's house at Kioto there 
was the wildest excitement. The Russian ambassador, who was with 
him, threw himself at the feet of the Crown Prince with a cry of horror, 
but the young man raised him quietly, saying, "Do not be anxious; it 
is only blood." 

The grand festivities at the Russian embassy and the Japanese 
court, which had been planned, were, of course, abandoned. The sister 
of Marion Crawford, the author, Mrs. Hugh Frazer, wrote a letter at 
the time which has been published, which shows the condition of things 
at this juncture. 

The Solicitude of the Empress. 

Mrs. Frazer writes : "As yet no one knew whether a riot had taken 
place, whether the ambassador who was with the prince was hurt, but 
to tell the truth, I do not believe those two loyal women could have 
suffered more anguish of soul even had he been killed. I learned for 
the first time what loyalty meant; with what a passion of devotion the 



NICHOLAS II. 235 

blood of some races leaps to the call, mad to be spilt for the sovereign 
and his family. My poor friends were utterly prostrated by the blow, 
which had fallen some two hours before I reached them. They had 
wept till they could weep no more^ and Vera S., a most charming and 
brilliant girl, was raging up and dov\^n the room, crying, 'O, our Prince, 
our Prince. God have mercy on our Prince !' 

"Meanwhile there was one person who could do nothing to help the 
poor young prince or to punish his assailant. The valiant, gentle 
Empress forgot all the repressions of her upbringing, all the superb 
calm which, as due to her rank, she had shown in every circumstance 
of her life, and all that wretched night she walked up and down her 
room, weeping her heart out in a flood-tide of grief. 'The poor mother,' 
she wailed, 'she cannot see her boy ! She will not believe he is safe ! 
Poor mother! How can I comfort her?' And she sent telegram after 
telegram to the Czarina, assuring her of the profound, heartbroken 
sympathy with which she, the Empress of Japan, regarded her trouble, 
and promising that the Czarevitch should be nursed and tended as if his 
mother were with him. 

A Prince and a Gentleman. 

"The young man behaved all through like a prince and a gentleman, 
not the slightest sign of rancor ever appeared in his voice or manner, 
and when, at his parents' command (it is said, at his mother's entreat}^, 
he gave up the rest of his Japanese tour, and was carried back on board 
of his own ship to be nursed, he softened the act by every kind word 
that could possibly be used. Thanking the Emperor of Japan warmly 
for all his kindness, he assured him how great a deprivation it was for 
him not to visit the imperial family at Tokio because, 'For reasons of 
health, he was still somewhat weak, and it was considered better that 
he should return to Russia at once.' The public grief was profound 
and universal, the theatres were closed, the shops and markets aban- 
doned. The Emperor had pledged his honor for the safety of the Prince, 
every reasonable precaution had been taken, but the Insult and outrage 
that had befallen the Emperor's guest was felt to be a national dishonor. 



236 - NICHOLAS II. 

Spontaneously the people thought what could they do to testify to the 
wounded Czarevitch their sympathy and sorrow. From all parts of the 
country came presents, until every part of the Czarevitch's ship was 
encumbered with gifts. Poor men walked days to bring their little offer- 
ing. Rich men sent precious heirlooms, with messages of love and 
respect." 

This letter of Mrs. Frazer was written from Kioto immediately fol- 
lowing the incident it described. 

A Royal Invalid. 

The Emperor of Japan sent word to the judges that the would-be 
murderer of the Crown Prince of Russia must be executed. But this 
they flatly refused to do, because the Japanese constitution and laws 
forbid any special punishment for assault upon one person more than 
upon another. Hence, ten years' imprisonment was the limit which 
could be inflicted. 

The ship upon which the royal invalid was nursed landed him a 
month later at Vladivostok. There he laid the cornerstone of the eastern 
branch of the Trans-Siberian railroad, and journeyed home overland by 
train and boat and coach clear across Siberia. This is how it happens 
that he is the first czar who ever set foot upon the Pacific frontiers of 
his empire, or who has had by personal knowledge a comprehension 
of the extent of his dominions. 

By this time it is said that he had been cured of his infatuation for 
the ballet dancer, and upon his return home his father became very 
anxious that he should find a suitable wife among the princesses of 
Europe. 

Looking for a Wife. 

The Princess Elena of Montenegro was discussed first as a suitable 
person, but the young people most interested did not seem to take to 
each other, and, as is well known, the Princess Elena became the bride 
of the then Crown Prince of Italy, and became the Queen of that coun- 
try and the mother of a promising family. 

In the meantime Nicholas began to take an active interest in the 



NICHOLAS II. 237 

affairs of the empire, being appointed at the head of a committee to 
provide rehef during the great famine, and taking a prominent position 
in all that concerned the great railroads, both those being built and those 
projected, throughout the empire, but his father, fearing the early end 
of his career, would not allow the young man to forget the all-important 
matter of a wife. At first he seems to have been, to say the least, very 
indifferent, but when, not long after his return from the East, he went 
to attend the marriage of his cousin Marie, at Gotha, to the heir-pre- 
sumptive of the King of Roumania, he met the Princess Alix, of Hesse- 
Darmstadt, his second cousin. She was the niece, by marriage, of his 
aunt, the Grand Duchess Marie, wife of the English Duke of Saxe- 
Coburg-Gotha. The Grand Duchess was a very skillful woman, who 
numbered among her amusements that of match-making. Observing 
that the young Czarevitch seemed to be impressed by the beauty, dignity 
and good sense of the Princess Alix, she did her best to throw them 
together, no doubt, with the ultimate view of their marriage. 

Nicholas Goes "A-Courting." 

Alexander III, being informed of the state of affairs, and well know- 
ing that there was the making of a very desirable daughter-in-law in 
the person of this young Anglo-German girl, likewise contributed to the 
management of the courtship. He had favored the Princess Elena of 
Montenegro, because she was of Orthodox faith, but, content with the 
way things were working out, he urged his son to go to Darmstadt and 
visit the Princess Alix in her own home. Of course the young man 
readily found time for so pleasant a mission, with the result that he 
proposed to the young lady, but she refused at first to give a positive 
answer. 

She was the daughter of the Princess Alice of England, who, al- 
though a member of one of the richest royal families in Europe, had 
passed her life as wife and mother at the home of a German duke, in 
poverty at times so extreme that she was unable even to hire a servant 
to help rear her children and tend to the ordinary duties of house- 
keeping. 



238 NICHOLAS II. 

Married and Crowned. 

The Princess Alix, brought up amid these surroundings, had nat- 
urally never been given to fashionable frivolity, but had been educated 
by her mother with a full know^ledge of domestic duties, and she vv^as, 
withal, very devout,, and a Protestant. She knew that to become 
Czarina she must embrace the Orthodox faith of the Greek Catholic 
Churchj and she did not believe at first that she could conscientiously 
do this. The result was that she hesitated for months, and all the 
time the Czar was growing weaker and daily more anxious to see his 
son properly settled before his death. Finally the Princess was per- 
suaded to visit the Czar and discuss the matter with him. The dying 
Emperor wished to know more about the young woman, and she, on 
her part, wished to know more fully what her duties would be, should 
she obey the impulses of her heart and consent to marry the Crown 
Prince. The result of the visit was that the Princess consented, to the 
great relief and satisfaction of Alexander. In due time she was ad- 
mitted to membership of the Orthodox Church, was married, and 
crowned. Upon her admission to the church, it was necessary for the 
Princess to assume a new name, and she took that of Alexandra 
Feodorovna. This is the name by which she will be known in history, 
and was doubtless selected in honor of her aunt by marriage, the present 
Queen of England. Within a year after their- marriage, which was 
celebrated without ostentation soon after Alexander's death, a child- 
was born, but, unfortunately for the Russian throne, it was a girl. 
She was named Olga, and two other children have since followed, both 
girls. 

Head of Church and State. 

It will be remembered that the son of Catherine II caused the 
Russian throne to be barred in future to women, so long as there lived 
a male member of the family. To show how things are planned in 
royal circles, it may be mentioned that when Queen Victoria saw her 
little Russian great-granddaughter she at once announced that she 



NICHOLAS n. 239 

should marry, when grown up to the proper age, her great-grandson, 
the son of the present Prince of Wales, at that time, of course, Duke 
of York. 

The coronation of the Czar of Russia is not only a stately ceremonial, 
but a religious institution. The Czar becomes not only the head of the 
state, but since Peter the Great he is also the Pope of the Orthodox 
Russian Greek Church. He is the Supreme High Priest, as well as 
absolute monarch. 

The coronation ceremonies occurred, as they always must in Russia, 
at Moscow, May 26, 1896. This ceremony has been so often and so 
fully described that we will not give space to the subject here. 

A Zealous Monarch. 

The young Czar set to work at once to improve the internal affairs 
of his empire. Upon the birth of his first child he forbade religious 
persecutions, and he busied himself with pushing to completion the 
Trans-Siberian Railway, and in extending the canal system of Russia 
in Europe. He cultivated intimate relations with Persia, and with the 
Ameer of Afghanistan, with a view to extending Russian influence in the 
territory crossed by the road to the Indian Ocean. He finally became 
practically master of Persia, through diplomacy and financial operations, 
and this influence seems to be unimpaired up to the present time. 

There is no doubt but that Nicholas desired peace from the start. 
All who came in contact with him testified to their conviction that he 
was earnest and honest in his abhorrence of war. One of the first and 
most important acts of his reign was to enter upon an agitation looking 
to disarmament and the cutting down of the vast standing armies at 
present maintained by the continental powers of Europe- This led to 
his call for the Peace Congress held at The Hague in the summer of 
1899, at which both England and the United States were represented, 
although at that moment we had a war on hand in the Philippines, and 
Cecil Rhodes and Joseph Chamberlain were getting ready to pounce 
upon the Dutch of South Africa. 



240 NICHOLAS II. 

The Czar's Peace Congress. 

Whether the world does not really desire to settle international 
disputes by a lawsuit, and really prefers to fight occasionally, at any 
rate the Czar's Peace Congress did not come to much. The nations 
would not agree to disarm. Some resolutions were passed, but that is 
about all. It is true, however, that the possibility of international arbi- 
tration in a certain class of cases has been realized, and it is to the credit 
of the Czar that he gave the movement first impetus which, while at 
this date, not promising a secure guarantee of peace, has opened the 
way and led to some advance toward such an end. The Czar was 
greatly disappointed when the world in general did not accept his 
proposition seriously. Still, this court promises to be of great use in 
secondary matters, and, indeed, England and France have gone so far 
as to make a treaty providing that a certain class of international ques- 
tions affecting these two countries at least shall be referred to this 
tribunal. We have seen how President Roosevelt compelled England, 
France and Italy to carry one question regarding the claims against 
Venezuela to this court. We have also found Mexico paying a judg- 
ment for a very large sum of money in the case of a claim which had 
been pending for many years. 

About this time the Czar's brother George, who, as the next male, 
was heir-presumptive to the throne, died, and upon the birth of a third 
daughter, to the great disappointment of the family, the title of Czare- 
vitch fell provisionally to the Grand Duke Michael, third son, and young- 
est child of Alexander III. The Czar was so depressed by these family 
misfortunes that it is said he actually contemplated abdication. 

The Absorption of Finland. 

In 1898 an important step was taken with relation to Finland. This 
country which, by racial affinity, belongs to Sweden rather than Russia, 
had for a long time been governed by its own constitution and legisla- 
tive assembly, the Czar of Russia being its Grand Duke. It is said 
that the Czar's prime minister and some other members of the Imperial 





MR. KOGORO TAKAHIRA 

Japanese Minister. 
MR. MINHUI CHO 

Korean Minister. 



COUNT CASSINI 

Russian Ambassador. 
SIR CHEN TUNG LIANG-CHENG 

Chinese Minister and the members of his 
Embassy. 





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NICHOLAS 11. 241 

council had long been of the opinion that the good of the empire de- 
manded that Finland should be governed like any other part of the 
country, and should be received and amalgamated thoroughly into the 
empire by the abolition of this constitution, and the placing of this 
grand duchy under the power of the autocracy, like any other province. 
It is reported, too, that one of the Czar's schemes for internal improve- 
ment was hampered by the semi-independence of the Finns. He had 
planned the building of a railroad from St. Petersburg to the Arctic 
Ocean, and the port desired for it is on the Beranger Fiord, one side of 
which is in Norway and the other in Finland. Although this Fiord is 
Oil the Arctic Ocean, still, by a sweep of the Gulf Stream aroimd the 
coast where Norway cuts ofif Sweden from the Arctic Ocean, it is 
almost always open. 

Various Enterprises and Projects. 

Among other favorite measures of the Czar was the improvement 
of the condition of the agricultural peasants. The sudden change caused 
by the abolition of serfdom from the farming of large estates to the 
working of small farms led to great difficulties and hardships among 
the people who were without any means to carry on enterprises for 
themselves, and, in fact, were not educated to the responsibility. The 
amelioration of these conditions was very close to the heart of the Czar, 
and the empire was led into vast expenditures in aid of this object. 

Another enterprise of the Czar was the construction of a waterway 
clear across the country, connecting the Baltic with the Black Sea. The 
whole course of this projected canal would run through rich and popu- 
lous provinces. There was already a canal which facilitated transporta- 
tion between the Baltic and the Caspian, but it was inadequate to the 
immense demand made upon it for the constantly increasing output of 
petroleum, salt, grain, hay, wood, and other products, which depend 
upon it for distribution. It was proposed to make a ship canal by means 
of which ocean-going steamers and warships might pass to and fro, in 
and out of the Black Sea, without reference to the Dardanelles. 



242 NICHOLAS II. 

A Policy of Peace. 

With all these great projects in hand, with peace, the greatest need 
of the empire, it can scarcely be believed that the war in which Russia 
found herself engaged with Japan was sought or desired by Nicholas. 
On the other hand, every indication pointed to his sincerity in wishing 
for a policy of continuous peace, and it seemed to be unquestionable that 
he was led step by step into a position which provoked, if it did not make 
imperative, the attack of Japan. The fact that the Czar banished from 
Russia the Governor of Eastern Siberia, who retired In disgrace to the 
south of France, would Indicate that he himself realized at last that he 
and the country were led Into a false position by the so-called "war 
party" in St. Petersburg, and in the Far East. 

Nicholas is a man of broad education, and well-read in the literature 
of other nations and languages beside his own. He speaks English 
fluently, and in boyhood delighted to read the novels of Walter Scott 
and Charles Dickens. He speaks most of the Important languages of 
Europe. He Is upon intimate and friendly relations with the young 
King of Italy, the Prince of Wales, and the Emperpr of Germany, men 
near his own age. He is thoroughly conversant with the political ambi- 
tions and aspirations of the rulers of the civilized world. He has had 
frequent Interviews with the monarchs of Europe and with French states- 
men by visits he has made, not infrequently, both before and since he 
became Czar, at the principal courts of Europe. He has seen and con- 
versed with leading men of all the fourteen nations of which he Is em- 
peror. It may appear, therefore, surprising that he should find himself 
face to face with an unwished for and detested war. 



CHAPTER XIX. 
KOKEA, THE HERMIT NATION 

The Bone of Contention — History of the Country — Seoul, the Capital — Chemulpo — Fusan, 
the Grateway to Korea — Classes of People — Slavery — Korean Literature — Industries — 
Commercial Importance. 

KOREA might have been called the real bone of contention between 
Russia and Japan. Of course Manchuria figured considerably in 
the disagreement and war. Russia made an application to the Korean 
government in January, 1903, for a railroad concession from Seoul to 
Wiju, which was refused by Korea; she also attempted to establish a 
settlement near Wiju, in order to hold a timber concession granted in 
1896. It was reported that many Russian soldiers were entering the 
territory, disguised as surveyors, and a protest was made by Korea, 
who insisted that the Russians retire. It was generally thought that the 
aggression on the part of the latter country was evidence of a design 
against Korea similar to that against Manchuria. Japan joined Korea 
in the protest, and for a time war seemed verging between Japan and 
Russia, at that time. Japan also showed a tendency to find a foothold 
in Korea, demanding the same rights there that Russia enjoyed in 
Manchuria. 

Population and Area. 

Korea has an area equal to that of the State of Kansas, or 82,000 
square miles. Its population is one-fourth that of Japan or 10,528,937. 
The Korean peninsula hangs like a bridge down from Manchuria almost 
to Japan. It has a coast line measuring 1,740 miles, and with its out- 
lying islands has a coast line nearly as great as that of Great Britain. 
The name of Korea is derived from the Japanese "Korai" (chosen), 
and is translated into "Morning Calm." The eastern half of the penin- 
sula is a sinuous range of mountains of which western Korea is the slope. 

243 



244 KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 

When the steam and electric railways were built in Korea a tew years 
ag-o the natives looked upon them as the works of the devil or the evil 
spirit. It was with the greatest difficulty that the officials prevented 
the mob from destroying the property of the electric railway, which had 
begun operations in Seoul. 

The City of Seoul. 

Seoul, the capital of the kingdom, is enclosed by crenellated walls 
of varying height, which average about 20 feet, with arch stone bridges 
spanning the water courses. The city is laid off in the form of an irreg- 
ular oblong, and stretches lengthwise in a valley that runs from north- 
east to southwest. The houses are about eight or nine feet high, built 
of stone or mud and mostly roofed with tiles, after the Chinese fashion. 
Internally the abodes of the Koreans are clean, for like the Japanese, 
they take off their shoes before entering the houses. 

A long main street, about 100 feet wide, running from east to west, 
divides the city into two nearly equal portions. In the northern half 
are the walled and inclosures containing the King's palace and the more 
important public buildings. A street about 50 feet wide intersects the 
main thoroughfare at right angles, dividing the northern half of the 
city into eastern and western quarters. At the point of intersection 
stands a pavilion called Chong-Kak (the "Bell Kiosk"), from a large 
bell about 7 feet high which is placed there. This spot is regarded as 
the center of the city, and from it another street as wide as the main 
street branches oft to the southwest. The four wide streets which thus 
radiate from the "Bell Kiosk" are known as the four Chong-Ro or 
"Bell roads." 

Appearance of the Streets. 

Another conspicuous feature of this central part of the city is the 
row of large warehouses — two stories high, the lower portion of which 
are divided into little shops, opening into a small court-yard instead of 
facing the street. The width of the main streets was formerly much 
reduced by the construction in front of nearly every house of a rude 
wooden shanty used for a work shop or business purposes, which gave 



KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 245 

the streets a poor and squalid appearance. A spacious market place is 
located in one of the busiest parts of the city. An annual appropriation 
of $50,000 was made by the Finance Department for the maintenance 
and improvements of the roads, and a similar sum was recently appro- 
priated for drainage. Official returns give the number of houses in 
Seoul as 30,000. 

The Principal Seaport Town. 

Chemulpo is the principal seaport city of Korea. It faces toward 
the Russian cities of Port Arthur and Dalny at the end of the Man- 
churian peninsular. It is about one day by steamship across the Gulf 
of Pechili from Chemulpo to Port Arthur. According to the Japanese 
their war with Russia began at Chemulpo on February 8 by the Russian 
warships in that harbor firing upon the Japanese fleet and transports 
which were endeavoring to disembark troops on Korean soil at Che- 
mulpo. 

Rapid Rise of Chemulpo. 

The city is located at the entrance to the Salle River, on the west 
coast of Korea. In 1880 Chemulpo was a collection of about a dozen mis- 
erable mud huts ; in 1904, it was a large and flourishing center of trade, 
with broad roads of metal, good substantial buildings and a foreign 
population of about 8,000, principally Japanese and Chinese. These 
settlements are fully occupied, and the price of land in the general for- 
eign settlement has risen almost unto fabulous rates. The outer an- 
chorage is accessible to ships of all sizes, and the inner one to coasting 
vessels and steamers ordinarily employed in the local trade. The port 
was opened to Japanese trade on the first of January, 1883, ^^cl to for- 
eign trade on June of the same year. The total value of the trade at 
Chemulpo amounts to more than $10,000,000 per annum. Korea pur- 
chases more goods from other countries than she sells to them. 

A Country of Ancient Traditions. 

That part of Korea comprised in the peninsular has been inhabited 
by a people whose traditions extend over a period of five thousand 



246 KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 

years. They have been subjected to kaleidoscopic changes whereby 
smaller tribes were absorbed by larger, and weaker governments were 
overthrown by stronger — there was gradually evolved one kingdom 
which, eventually embracing all preceding territorial units under her 
own protection, has presented to the world through centuries a more 
or less composite and stable authority. From very early times until 
1895, the King of Korea was a vassal of China. In early times there 
was no such thing as a King of the whole peninsular, and the suzerainty 
of China, irregularly maintained at best, was long confined to the small 
kingdom or kingdoms which occupied the northern part of the country. 
At an early date a large faction, if not the whole of the peninsular, was 
conquered by the Japanese under Empress Jingu and maintained for 
a considerable time. Again, in the closing years of the i6th century, 
the peninsula was invaded and a large part of it temporarily conquered 
by the Japanese. Under the regent Hideyoshi and even after most of 
the peninsula was evacuated but the Japanese retained a foothold at 
Fusan, together with certain rights which formed the basis of which 
China's claim to suzerainty was disputed in the war of 1895. 

The Part Played by Fusan. 

Fusan not only played an important role in that war, but had been 
for centuries the flood gate through which had poured the inhabitants 
of Japan. Sometimes they had invaded Korea as enemies, levying trib- 
ute; sometimes they had come as allies against China; sometimes they 
had appeared as envoys of a friendly state and had returned enriched 
to the court of their sovereign. 

At times, actuated by compassion, they had sent grain ships to 
Fusan when famine overtook their neighbor. In a word, between 
Japan and Fusan there was a continuous passing of ships. Around 
this outlet, the one gate to the southern half of the peninsular, the spas- 
modic beginnings of the present important commerce between the two 
countries grew out of a fitful exchange of commodities. 

In the sixteenth century Korea, taking advantage of the internal 
convulsions of which the Island Empire was a victim, had practically 



KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 247 

renounced her old relation of vassalage to Japan and had ceased to 
send an annual embassy thither. When order was at length restored in 
the Island Empire, the King of Korea was summoned to renew his alle- 
giance. 

Invasion of Korea. 

The answer proving unsatisfactory, an invasion of the peninsula 
was undertaken by the Japanese. A settlement at Fusan, which had 
been founded long before by the retainers of the daimio of the Island of 
Tsu-shima, assisted by itinerant traders and deserters from the num- 
erous expeditions which had visited its shores, had grown to such di- 
mensions that when a Japanese force was descried off the harbor on 
the morning of May 25th, 1592, Fusan was already in their possession. 

Not only did this circumstance give the Japanese troops facilities 
for disembarkation, but, throughout the vicissitudes of the next six 
years' campaign, it furthered their operations. 

The position of Fusan made the place not only a base of supplies 
for the invading armies, but also a repairing yard, much needed by the 
Japanese fleet when it had been defeated by the Korean ships in an at- 
tempt to co-operate with the victorious soldiers which the Japanese 
generals, Konislii and Kuroda, had massed before the city of Ping-yang, 
in the northwest of the peninsula. 

After the failure of this first invasion and the retreat in May, 1593, 
of the Japanese from the north before the combined strength of the 
Chinese and Koreans, Fusan became one of the fortified camps where 
the Japanese passed the winter within sight of their native shores. 

The negotiations which were prosecuted during the four following 
years having proved fruitless, Japan decided to renew her attack, and 
Fusan became the base of the second invasion. A tremendous force 
was now launched against the peninsula by Hideyoshi, and although 
it had ultimately to be withdrawn, it is said to have cost Korea the loss 
of 300,000 men and to have subjected it to devastation from which the 
country needed two centuries to recover, if indeed, it has ever regained 
its former prosperity. 



248 KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 

Moreover, as we have mentioned, the Japanese continued to retain 
Fusan, as a voucher of their claim to ascendency. When the treaty of 
1876 removed the nominal obstacles to the over-sea immigration, w^hich 
had gone on for several hundred years, a wave of Japanese colonization 
at once broke upon the eastern, western and southern shores of the 
Hermit Kingdom. 

A Mixture of Elements. 

Most ethonologists regard the Korean as the product of a mixture 
of Mongolian and Caucasian elements. His personal observation has 
led him to concur in the belief that the Koreans are descendant from 
part of the half savage and nomadic tribes of Mongolia and Northern 
Asia and partly from the Caucasian peoples of Western Asia. 

These two races, coming in the one case from the North, and drift- 
ing up in the other from the South, at the time of the Aryan invasion of 
India, peopled respectively the North and the South of the peninsula. 

Speech Akin to Chinese. 

Finally, fusing, they gave to the world a composite nation, distinct 
in type and speech and habits', and amalgamated only by a train of cir- 
cumstances over which they could have no control. It is by the facial 
resemblances that the origin of the Koreans may be traced in part to 
a Caucasian source. 

The speech of the country, while closely akin to Chinese, reproduces 
sounds and many verbal denominations which are found in the language 
oflndia. Korea has submitted to the influence of Chinese arts and lit- 
erature for centuries, yet there is but little agreement between the 
legends of the two countries. The folklore of China is in radical dis- 
agreement with the vague and shadowy traditions of the people of Korea. 
There is, in truth, a vast blank in the early history of the peninsula at 
a period when the Middle Kingdom is represented by consecutive rec- 
ords still unimpaired 

Three Classes of People. 

The Koreans are, it seems, divided into three classes. The "y^ng- 
ban," or noble, is, of course, the ruling class ; then come a middle and a 
lower class. The social barriers are well defined. 



KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 249 

The upper class woman lives like the inmate of a zenana; from the 
age of 12 she is visible only to the people of her household, and to her 
immediate relatives. She is married young, and thenceforth her ac- 
quaintances among men are restricted to those Mrithin the fifth degree 
of cousinship. She may, indeed, visit her friends, being usually carried 
by four bearers in a screened chair. She seldom walks, but should she 
do so her face is invariably veiled in the folds of a chang-ot. The chang- 
ot is by no means so complete a concealment as is the Turkish veil. 
Moreover it is often cast aside in old age. 

Upon the women of the middle class few restrictions are imposed 
as to their appearance in the streets, nor are they so closely secluded 
in their houses as are their aristocratic sisters. Their faces, however, 
are veiled. Nuns, dancing girls, slaves and prostitutes, all of whom 
are included in the lowest class, are forbidden to wear the chang-ot. 

Women doctors, too, dispense with it, although only women of the 
highest birth are allowed to practice medicine. There are some other 
careers besides that of medicine which are open to women of the upper 
class, who wish to embark in business in order to contribute to the sup- 
port of the household. They may cultivate silkworms, start an apiary, 
weave straw shoes, conduct a wine shop, or teach. 

Vocations of Women. 

On the other hand, they may not undertake either the manufacture 
of lace and cloth, or the sale of fruit and vegetables. A descent in the 
social scale increases the number of callings which are open to women. 
Those of the middle class may engage in all the occupations permitted 
to upper class women except medicine and teaching. They may so be- 
come concubines, act as cooks, go out as wet nurses, or fill posts in the 
palace. They may keep any kind of shop, tavern or hotel; they possess 
certain fishing privileges which allow them to dig clams and collect 
cuttle fish or beches de mer. They may make every sort of boot and 
shoe. They may make fishing nets and fashion tobacco pouches. 

If, on the other hand, some little respect is paid to women of the 
middle class, those of the third, or lowest stratum, are held in contempt. 



2SO KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 

Of the occupations open to middle class women, there are two in which 
women of humble origin cannot engage. The latter are ineligible 
for any palace position, and they are forbidden to manufacture tobacco 
pouches. 

They may become sorceresses, jugglers, tumblers, contortionists, 
dancing girls and courtesans. The dancing girl usually closes her ca-- 
reer by becoming the concubine of some rich noble. Concubinage, by 
the way, is a recognized institution, and one in which the middle and 
lower classes as well as the highest class indulge. 

The rights of the children of concubines vary according to the moral 
laxity of the class in which they are born. In the upper class they 
possess no claim against the estates of their progenitors; the law of 
entail ignores them, and they may not perform the family sacrifices. 
In the absence of legitimate issue to a member of the highest class, 
a son must be adopted for the purpose of inheriting the family property 
and of attending to funeral and ancestral rites. Great stress is laid in 
the highest class upon purity of descent. 

In the middle and lowest classes less attention is paid to it. Save 
in the lowest class, it is usual to maintain a separate establishment for 
each concubine. The fact that in the lowest class, the concubine and 
the wife share the same house is chargeable with much of the unhappi- 
ness of Korean family life. 

No Law of Seclusion, 

It appears that under the previous dynasty — the present dynasty has 
occupied the throne continuously since 1392 — the sphere of Korean wo- 
men was less restricted. There was no law of seclusion; the female 
sex enjoyed greater public freedom. In the closing decades of the pre- 
ceding dynasty, however, the tone of society was lowered, and women 
became victims of violence. Buddhist priests were guilty of widespread 
debauchery; conjugal infidelity was common. 

The present dynasty which, as we have said, has been on the throne 
more than 500 years, endeavored to check these evils by ordaining the 
isolation and promoting the greater subjection of the female sex. Vice 



KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 251 

and immorality had been so long and so promiscuously practiced, how- 
ever, that already men had begun to keep their women in seclusion of 
their own accord. 

If they respected them to some extent, they were wholly distrustful 
to one another. Distrust and suspicion were thus the principal causes 
of the immuring of women, the system being spontaneously evolved as 
the male Koreans learned to dread the evil propensities of their own sex. 

Only Female Slaves Allowed. 

At present the institution of slavery in Korea is confined to the pos- 
session of female slaves. Up to the time of the great invasion of Korea 
by Japanese armies in 1592, both men and women could be held in 
bondage. The loss of men, however, in that war was so great that 
upon its conclusion a law was promulgated which forbade the holding 
of males in servitude. 

There still exists, however, in Korea, the "sang-no" (incorrectly 
translated slave boy), who renders certain services only, and receives 
his food and clothes in compensation. The position of the sang-no is 
more humble than that filled by the paid servants, but it is superior to 
that of the slave proper. It is even superior to that of the serf in 
mediaeval England, because the sang-no is bound by no agreement, 
written or customary, and is free to leave his employer. 

Duties of the Slave. 

The duties of the female slave comprise the rough work of the house. 
She does the washing — a function which in a Korean household imposes 
exacting and continuous labor; she fetches water from the well, assists 
in the cooking, undertakes the marketing and runs errands. She is not 
allowed to assume any duties of a superior character; her place is in the 
kitchen or the yard; she cannot become either a lady's maid or a favored 
servant of any superior grade. 

How a Woman Becomes a Slave. 

There are, we are told, four ways by which a Korean woman may 
become a slave. If in abject poverty she may give herself to slavery 



252 KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 

voluntarily, in exchange' merely for food, clothes and shelter. The wo- 
man who becomes a slave in this way cannot buy bach her freedom. 
She has fewer rights than the slave who is bought from an owner, or 
who sells herself for money. The daughter of a slave who dies in servi- 
tude continues in slavery. 

In the event of the marriage of her mistress, such a slave ranks as a 
part of the dowry. A woman may also be reduced to slavery by the 
treasonable misconduct of a relative. The family of a man convicted 
of treason becomes the property of the Government and the women 
are alloted to high officials. Legally, they then become slaves, but 
usually they are manumitted. 

Again, a woman may submit herself to the approval of a prospective 
employer. If she is found satisfactory, and is well recommended, her 
services may be appraised. When payment has been made, she gives 
a deed of her own person to her purchaser, imprinting the outline of her 
hand upon the document in place of a seal, and for the purpose of sup- 
plying easy means of identification. Although this transaction does not 
receive the recognizance of the Government, the contract is binding. 
Marriage of Slaves Promoted. 

We observe, lastly, that as the law provides that the daughter of 
a slave must take the place of her parent should the latter die, it is 
plainly for the owner's interest to promote the marriage of his slaves. 
Slaves who receive compensation for their services are entitled to marry 
whom they please, and quarters are provided for the couple. 

The master of the house, however, has no claim upon the services 
of the husband. The slave who voluntarily assigns herself to servitude, 
but receives no pay for her services, may not marry without her owner's 
consent. In such cases, however, it is not unusual for the master in the 
course of a few years to restore to the slave her liberty. 

Hitherto — that is to say, before Western ideas began to penetrate 
the peninsula — the position of the Korean woman has been so humble 
that education has been deemed superfluous. In Korea, as in ancient 
Athens, the artistic and literary faculties of respectable women were 
left uncultivated. 



KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 253 

Among the dancing girls and courtesans, on the other hand, as 
among the Greek hetaira, the mental abilities are trained and developed, 
with a" view to making them brilliant and entertaining companions. 

Leaves of Sunlight. 

The one sign, indeed of their profession is their culture, the scope and 
the charm of their attainments. 

These ''leaves of sunlight," as they are called, stand apart in a class 
of their own. They are named "gisaing," and correspond to the geisha 
of Japan; the duties, environment and mode of existence of the two are 
almost identical. Officially the gisaing are attached to a department 
of the Government, and, in common with the court musicians, are con- 
trolled by a particular bureau. 

They are supported from the national treasury, and they play a con- 
spicuous part at official dinners and palace entertainments. They read 
and recite, they dance and sing; they are accomplished artists and mu- 
sicians. They dress with exceptional taste; they move with exceeding 
grace; they are delicate in appearance^ very frail and very human, very 
tender, sympathetic and imaginative. 

By their artistic and intellectual endowments, the dancing girls 
ironically enough, are debarred from the positions for which their talents 
peculiarly fit them. They may move in the highest society, and, in fact, 
do live in it, but they are not of it. 

They are met at the house of the most distinguished men; they may 
become the mistresses of nobles or of princes, or even concubines of the 
Emperor. In Korea, however, as in ancient Athens, a man of good 
birth may not marry them, although they typify everything that is 
bright, lively and beautiful. 

Methods of Instruction. 

We pass to the education provided for men, and to some extent for 
respectable women. Up to the relatively recent introduction of foreign 
curricula and method of instruction, and, for that matter, even now, as 
regards the majority, the acquirements of the cultured classes have been 



254 KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 

and are summed up in a vague and imoerfect knowledge of the Chinese 
classics. 

The members of the highest class profess to understand the lan- 
guage, and to know the literature of China, but very seldom are men 
of the middle class able to do more than read the mixed Chinese-Korean 
script in which the native newspapers are printed. In this script the 
grammatical construction is purely Korean. 

As regards the oral language, the mandarin dialect of China is sup- 
posed to be the speech of polite society in Korea. It is the medium 
of official communication at the Court, and most of the foreigners in 
the service of the Government have mastered it. 

. According to Prof. Homer D. Hulbert, whose researches in Korean 
and Chinese philology may make an authority, only i per cent of the 
women of the upper class, though they may study Chinese, have any 
practical knowledge of it. 

Women of the middle and lower classes are ignorant of the language 
and literature of the middle Kingdom. 

Not more than 5 per cent would be found who could take up a 
Chinese work and read it as glibly as an average assembly of English 
people might be expected to read ordinary Latin prose. 

The Literature of Korea. 

As regards the On-mun, or common script of the country, there is 
no such ignorance; Koreans of the middle, as well as of the upper class, 
study their native writings with assiduity and intelligence. We are re- 
minded that the language of Korea is altogether different from that 
of China and Japan. 

The Hermit Kingdom possesses what both of those countries lack, to 
wit, an alphabet, which at present consists of twenty-five letters. The 
introduction of this alphabet is ascribed by the native annals to the year 
1447, when the King of Korea, resolving to assert his independence bv 
abandoning the Chinese mode of writing as the official medium of corre- 
spondence, invented an alphabet to suit the requirements of the ver- 
nacular. The vernacular literature includes translations from the Chinese 



KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 255 

and Japanese classics, works on modern and mediaeval history, Korean 
books of travel and hunting, poetry, correspondence and works of fic- 
tion. Many of these books are studiously perused by Korean women, 
ignorance of their contents being regarded with disdain by members 
of the upper class, and even, though in a less pronounced degree, by 
representatives of the middle class. The female attendants in the pal- 
ace are especially conversant with the vernacular, one of their duties 
being to prepare On-mun copies of Government orders, current news 
and general gossip for imperial use. Books in native script may easily 
be purchased in Korean cities, or they may be taken from circulating 
libraries. Many works are written in Chinese and in Korean upon al- 
ternate pages. 

Korean Industries. 

The majority of the Korean industries are connected with agricul- 
ture. It seems that more than 70 per cent of the population are farm- 
ers, while the carpenters, blacksmiths and stone masons combine a life- 
long experience of husbandry with proficiency at the forge or in the 
work shop. Even the schoolmaster is usually the son of a yeoman- 
farmer; the fisherman has a small holding which his wife tills while he 
follows his calling. The rural population take an active part in certain 
native industries — thus the wives of farmers not only raise cotton, silk, 
linen and grass cloth, but convert the raw material into finished fabrics. 

The sandals, mats, osier and wooden wares which figure conspicu- 
ously in Korean households, are produced by the farmers and their 
families in their leisure hours. The officials, too, the yamen-runners, 
the merchants, innkeepers, miners and junk men, though they do not 
belong to the agricultural population, are closely connected with it. 

The Government exists on the revenue raised from agriculture. The 
internal economy of the country has been for centuries associated with 
the pursuits and problems of the agriculturist. 

Agricultural Implements. 

The implements of the Korean tiller of the soil are rude and few. 
They consist of a plow with a removable iron shoe, which turns the 
sod in a direction the reverse of our own; a spade equipped with ropes 



256 KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 

and dragged by several men; bamboo flails and rakes, and a small hoe 
— sharp and heavy — used as occasion may require for reaping or chop- 
ping, as well as hoeing. 

During the harvest season all available hands are mustered into the 
fields. The women cut the crop, the men fasten the sheaves, the chil- 
dren load them into rope panniers suspended upon wooden frames 
from the backs of bulls. The cut grain is threshed without delay, the 
men emptying the laden baskets upon the roadway and setting to with 
unwearied vigor. While the men thresh with their flails and the wind 
winnows the grain, a number of women work with their feet a massive 
beam, from which an iron or granite pestal is hung over a deep granite 
mortar. This rude contrivance pulverizes the grain sufificiently for the 
coarse cakes which serve in lieu of bread. 

Beyond the bull and the pig, there are few animals in the inland dis- 
tricts. The pony and the donkey are not employed in agricultural work 
to the same extent as the bull. The latter animal, moreover, is better 
cared for than is the pony, whose temper is ruined by the harshness 
with which he is treated. The cruelty shown by the Korean to his pony 
is the most loathsome feature of the national life. ■ 

Cultivation of Rice. 

Irrigation is needed only for rice, the chief cereal of the country, 
which, throughout central and southern Korea, yields fairly abundant 
crops. To the north rice makes way for millet, the chief supplementary 
food of the Korean. In times of drought the rice fields are used for 
barley, oats and rye. 

Beans, peas and potatoes are planted between the furrows. Ac- 
cording to Korean tradition, rice originated in Naram, in China, at a 
date variously given as 2838, B. C, and 2698, B. C. The first rice was 
brought to Korea in 2122, B. C, the only grain raised in the country 
before that time having been millet. There are in the Korean penin- 
sula three kinds of rice, together with a number of sub-species. First 
is that called specifically kap-kok, which is grown in the paddy fields. 
It is used almost exclusively to make pap, the ordinary boiled rice. 



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NICHOLAS II, CZAR OF RUSSIA 

The warlike person in the foreground of the above picture hardly conveys the impres- 
sion of a man who would suggest the disarmament of the nations of the world. And yet it 
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KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION. 257 

Then there is the chunk-kok, or upland rice, which is drier than 
the paddy-field variety and is used largely for making rice flour and 
brewing beer. The third kind is grown on the slopes of mountains 
and is a wild rice. It is smaller and harder than the other kinds, and, 
as it will withstand the weather and remain perfectly sound for ten 
years, it is used to provision garrisons. 

Varieties of Beans. 

A principal staple of export from the peninsula is the "horse bean." 
It is supposed by Koreans to have originated in the northwestern China, 
and derives its name from the fact that it is used largely for fodder. The 
horse bean grows most abundantly in Kyong-syang (the southern prov- 
ince), though it is common all over the country. 

Other varieties distributed in different provinces are the black bean, 
the green bean, the oil bean, the white cap bean, the yellow bean, the 
brown bean and the chestnut bean. According to Mr. Hamilton, the 
importance of these different species of pulse to the Korean cannot be 
overestimated. They provide him with the oily and nitrogenous ele- 
ment which are lacking in rice. As a rule, they constitute about one- 
sixth of his food. 

Other Products. 

The value of barley to the Koreans is due partly to the fact that it 
is the first grain to germinate in the spring. It carries the people on 
until the millet and rice crops are ready. Barley and wheat are raised 
more or less extensively throughout Korea for the purpose of making 
wine and beer. Barley yields spring and autumn crops, and wheat 
yields only a winter crop. 

The crops of wheat, by the way, are small, except in Pyong-an, the 
northwestern province. Of millet there are six varieties, the price of 
the finer qualities being the same as that obtained for rice. Oats are 
a staple food in the more mountainous regions. From the stalk of the 
oat the Koreans make a famous paper which is used in the Emperor's 
palaces. 

Of sorghum, three kinds are grown in Korea, but sugar cannot be 



258 KOREA, THE HERMIT NATION 

extracted from it. Herein lies a marked difference between the penin- 
sula and China. As regards animal food the Korean, like the Chinese, 
may be said to be omniverous. Dog meat is in great request at certain 
seasons. 

Pork and beef are eaten with the blood undrained from the carcass. 
Birds are cooked with the lights, giblets, heads and claws intact. Fish 
that are sun-dried, and highly malodorous, are acceptable. Cooking 
is not always considered necessary. In Korea, as in China, a species 
of small fish is preferred raw, dipped into some piquant sauce. 



CHAPTER XX. 
SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA 

Relation of Siberia to Russia — How Separated from Manchuria — Inhabitants — How the 
Country Was Settled — Siberian Prisoners — Manchuria at the Beginning of the War — 
Harbin the Moscow of Asia — A Commercial Power — Natural History of Eastern Asia. 

AMERICANS "have been accustomed to look upon Siberia as one of 
the most miserable countries of the world, inhabited only by ticket- 
of-leaye men, or convicts, and it is only during very recent years that 
this estimation of the northernmost country of Asia has been modified. 
Today it is traversed by the longest railway line in the world, its length 
being more than twice that of the connecting systems comprising any 
one of the lines between New York and San Francisco. The Amur 
River, one of the greatest waterways of the world, forms the boundary 
line between Manchuria and Eastern Siberia for the greater distance 
across the north of Manchuria. 

What Exile Really Means. 

To most men in our country "exiled to Siberia" is looked upon as 
a banishment from home and home associations. The great majority 
of the exiles are composed of peasants who, through want of sobriety 
or steady work, failed to lay by sufficient money to transport them to 
the land of gold, as they called Siberia, and hence committed offenses 
of sufficient gravity to secure a passage to thi_s Eldorado at the expense 
of the Czar. Should the convict prove obedient to the penal regulations 
he is immediately paroled and very little thought paid in old Russia 
to the incident of his life for which he was sent to Siberia. 

There are today in the larger towns of Siberia very many leading 
citizens, prominent men in the professions of law and medicine and 
even in civil administration, who have been banished from that society 

259 



26o SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 

into which they were born. In the new land these men have, in a very 
great majority of cases, begun new lives and have proved themselves 
good citizens and most desirable acquisitions to the civilization of the 
rough frontier life. 

The Class Known As Colonists. 

Fully one-half of the exiles are not, strictly speaking, criminals at all, 
but are sent across the Ural Mountains into Asiatic Russia because they 
are a nuisance and expense to the parish in Russia where they formerly 
lived. These are the ones that the police are subject to keep their eyes 
upon. They are classed as colonists. 

The purely criminal prisoners are of two classes: First, those who 
have forfeited all civil rights; second, those who, though condemned 
and undergoing long sentences, are allowed to retain the hope of paying 
their debt to society and of regaining their lost positions in the world 
at some future time. The convict of the first category is indeed un- 
known to the world; his property goes to his heirs, his wife can remarry 
without divorce. The sentence which has been imposed upon the hus- 
band-criminal carries with it for the wife a divorce. 

Family Ties Severed. 

The passage across the Urals severs all ties between family and 
friends. His name is taken from him, consequently his signature is 
legally worthless. He is a roving, nameless creature. The second class, 
those who are not deprived of their civil rights by sentence of court, 
however heavy the sentence may be imposed upon them, have really 
nothing to complain of, except the lot of a colonist in a new land. If 
they behave well, they, too, are almost immediately paroled; they be- 
come free colonists in every respect save one : they cannot return to 
Russia until the expiration of the sentence to which they were originally 
condemned. In this way many of them are probably saved from the 
degrading associations into which they fell. Such a colonist is given 
a piece of land, an outfit and a sum of money. The government seeks 
to draw the veil of charity over his past. Nearly all of his neighbors are 
men with unfortunate antecedents similar to his own. They shift for 



SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 261 

themselves and average well as citizens. Wives are permitted to ac- 
company their husbands when exiled to Siberia, except in the first class. 
The most conclusive proof as to what the Hfe of the average con- 
vict really is is furnished upon the best of evidence by convicts them- 
selves, who certainly ought to know when they are well off. Not more 
than one-fourth of the exiles, according to the government reports, elect 
to return to Russia when their time expires. It is claimed that they 
have found life in Siberia much more agreeable than in Russia, so they 
become colonists of their own free will and choice and remain in Siberia. 

The Liberty of Political Prisoners. 

The political prisoners have great liberty. The usual short period 
of confinement before the ticket-of-leave is granted to this class is gen- 
erally sent in the prison at Nertschinsk. So far from the political pris- 
oner being worked to death, as is generally represented, they neither 
work in mines nor perform manual labor anywhere else, they are not 
compelled to work. When prisoners of this class are without the means 
to purchase the luxuries which they are permitted to enjoy, the prison 
authorities endeavor to procure for them remunerative work so that 
they may with their savings eke out the rude fare of the prison table. 

Convicts Divided Into Bands. 

Among the Siberian prisoners are found Japanese, Chinese, Koreans 
and Russians, all messing and rooming together. They are divided 
into companies of ten, each division electing a captain, who becomes 
responsible in the eyes of the prison authorities for the nine men who 
have honored him with their votes. 

Whenever a detachment of ten men is responsible for some infringe- 
ment of prison rules and the individual delinquent cannot be ascertained 
the captain receives the punishment. This system works well, for when 
the captain has to bear the brunt of all punishment, his nine com- 
panions not unnautrally feel bound to spare him the infliction of pun- 
ishm.ent as often as they reasonably can out of the brotherly feeling 
which has sprung up from among a common misfortune. 



262 SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 

The Largest Country of Asia. 

It was more than three hundred years ago when Vasll Yermak,. a 
Cossack criminal, set out with a band of followers across the Ural Moun- 
tains to what was then an unknown country. He penterated Western 
Siberia and held the territory. He died soon after his arrival there, 
however, and the country in 1584 was claimed by Russia. 

To the original Siberia much has been added on the south taken 
piecemeail from the Chinese Empire, and strange it is that this immense 
area of 4,833,496 square miles, remained so long a blank in its possi- 
bilities. 

Siberia, the largest country of Asia, has been looked upon as a bar- 
ren and unproductive country. It has been considered by the world as 
a land of exile and fit for little else. Today it is traversed by the longest 
railway line in the world, its length being more than twice that of the 
connecting systems comprising any one of the lines btween New York 
and San Francisco. 

Russian Occupation of Manchuria. 

Russia furnished in Manchuria a record of amazement in the build- 
ing of one of her cities, almost rivaling in rapidity the astonishing record 
of our own great West.^ 

In the building of such cities as Vladivostock, Dalny, and Port Ar- 
thur, Russia demonstrated her power and purpose on the Pacific in line 
with the world's conception of her character; but in the construction of 
the wonderful city of Harbin she displayed an altogether different type 
of activity from what we are prone to attribute to her. 

It is in this city more than in all the others combined that Russia 
asserted her intentions of becoming an active industrial force in the 
affairs of the Orient, and her people gave the place the title of the 
Moscow of Asia. 

The City of Harbin. 

The city is located on the Sungari River, at the point where the 
Manchurian branch of the Siberian Railway crosses the stream and 



SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 263 

where the Chinese Eastern branch starts south to Dalny and Port Ar- 
thur. It is about 350 miles west of Vladivostock and 600 miles north of 
Port Arthur. Its location is the geographical center of Manchuria, and 
from present prospects it is to become the commercial center as well. 
The city is surrounded on all sides for hundreds of miles with a rich 
and productive agricultural country, producing corn, wheat, oats, bar- 
ley, beans, millet, hemp, tobacco, vegetables, and some fruits. Minerals 
and timber and great areas of grazing lands also surround it. 

The place consists of the old town, three miles from the central de- 
pot; Prestin, or the river town, the present commercial center; and 
the administration town, in close proximity to the railway station. Be- 
fore the railway engineers established this as their headquarters there 
was no native town in this vicinity, and the entire place is therefore a 
Russian oroduct. 

A Russian Metropolis. 

At the beginning of the war it v^as as distinctly a Russian city as 
though it were located in the heart of Russia, and none but Russians 
and Chinese were permitted to own land, construct buildings, or en- 
gage in any permanent enterprise. The city was created by the Russian 
Government, under the management of the Manchurian Railway Com- 
pany. The land for many miles in each direction had been secured SO 
as to make it impossible for any foreign influence to secure a profit or 
foothold close to the city, and foreigners were not recognized as having 
any rights whatever, but were permitted there by sufferance. The chief 
railway engineer was the administrator of the city, and had complete 
control of everything, but a new scheme for the government of Man- 
churia suggested some form of municipal organization. 

Population of Harbin. 

In 1900 the place began to assume importance as a center of railway 
management, and in 1901 the population had grown to 12,000 Russians; 
in 1902, to 20,000; by May, 1903, to 44,000; and in October, 1903, a 
census showed a population of 60,000, exclusive of soldiers. Of these, 
400 are Japanese and 300 of all other nationalities, including Germans, 



264 SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 

Austrians, Greeks and Turks. All the rest were Russians. There were 
no Americans. 

The railway and administration employees, including families, con- 
stituted 11,000 of the population. The Chinese population was about 
40,000, located in a special settlement. The ratio of women to men was 
as follows: Japanese, 120 per cent; Russians, 44 per cent; Chinese, 1.8 
per cent; average of women, 14.3 per cent. 

A Railway Center. 

In 1904 Harbin was the center of the entire railway administration 
of Manchuria, and, as the Russian commercial enterprises of the far 
East were under the direction of the railway company, it was also the 
center of Russian industrial and commercial development. It was the 
headquarters of the civil courts and the chief military post, and the 
main center of control of all the vast army of railway guards. The ad- 
ministration city, therefore, consisted of all the public and private build- 
ings and shops necessary for these various departments. Residences 
for the employees covered the largest area of this division of this mar- 
velous city. The total administration expenditure on the city at the 
outbreak of hostilities was $15,450,000., 

Harbin was started primarily as a military center and an adminis- 
tration town for the government and direction of railway affairs. Its 
growth into a splendid commercial and manufacturing city was not 
originally provided for by the promoters and it was somewhat of a 
surprise to them, but the fever of making it a great Russian commercial 
and manufacturing city took possession of the railway management, and 
every system of promotion and protection that could be devised to in- 
crease its growth along these lines was energetically encouraged. 

The capital for most of the private enterprises was furnished by 
Siberian Jews. Chinese furnished mone)'' for the construction of some 
of the finest private buildings, such as hotels, store rooms, etc. In the 
administration part of the city no private buildings of any kind were 
permitted. The Russian-Chinese Bank was the only banking institution 
in the place. 



SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA.. 265 

Industries of Harbin. 

The leading industry of Harbin was the manufacture of flour. The 
next industry of importance was the production of the Russian Hquor, 
vodka. In 1904 there were several companies engaged in the meat- 
packing business. They cured hams, bacon, and all varieties of smoked 
meats and produced excellent articles. The hogs and cattle were grain 
fed and make splendid meats, and the Russians are experts in preparing 
it for markets. 

Manchuria is productive in wheat, cattle, sheep, hogs, millet, barley, 
oats, corn, beans, furs, hides, wool, bristles, bean oil, bean cake, hemp, 
tobacco, and timber, and has various undeveloped mineral resources; in 
fact, it has all the natural elements for the foundation of a great city. 

Russian Investment in Manchuria. 

The chief engineer in charge of the construction of the Russian 
railways in Manchuria, stated that Russia, at the time of the war with 
Japan, had expended in railways in Manchuria $139,050,000. Add to this 
her investments in fortifications and in the construction of the cties of 
Port Arthur, Dalny, Harbin, and other places and it is a very mod- 
erate estimate to place her investments in permanent properties in Man- 
churia at a total of $257,500,000 

Russia's Commercial Advantage. 

The following is from a United States government report issued 
just before the commencement of hostilities between Russia and Japan : 

"A study of conditions in Vladivostock, Harbin, and other districts 
is not particularly encouraging to the idea of extension of American 
trade in Manchuria in any line that Russia is prepared to supply. A 
knowledge of the earnest intention of the Russo-Chinese Bank to press 
the sale of Russian goods, a slight insight into the methods and determi- 
nation of Russian railways to find a market for the products of Russia, 
and the interest displayed in developing resources along their lines for 
Russians and Chinese only, taken in connection with the natural wealth 
and resources of the country, do not favor the hope that under a Rus- 
sian regime our trade in Manchuria will be as large as it was before. 



266 SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 

A Great Problem. 

"If we take into further consideration the fact that the Russian gov- 
ernment — by subsidies and bounties and through its banks and railways 
— is engaging in industrial and commercial pursuits and calculate the 
cheap food, cheap and reliable labor, and the vast mineral resources that 
she will have at her command on the Pacific, the question of the Man- 
churian market becomes comparatively insignificant, and we find our- 
selves face to face with the greater problem of the market of all Asia. 

"With millions of cheap and efficient Chinese laborers, with vast coal 
fields bordering on the Pacific, with mountains of iron and copper, vast 
forests, and enormous areas of agricultural land— producing now the 
cheapest food in the world — what is to prevent Russia, if her apparent 
plans are realized, from becoming a dominating factor in the commer- 
cial development of the Far East. One cannot view the marvelous 
growth of a city like Harbin or observe the cities of Vladivostock, Dalny, 
and Port Arthur, and the great Siberian Railway without pondering 
seriously the meaning of it all in the future of Russia on the Pacific." 

Chief Food Crops of Eastern Asia. 

In the plains country of Manchuria around Mukden, the Manchurian 
farmers raise vast quantities of indigo, while the coast regions and river 
bottoms yield rice, one of the chief food-crops of the Eastern Asiatic 
peoples. 

Further up, we find fields of wheat, barley, and millet, according 
to the character of the soil and the altitude. While the weather is 
very cold in winter, falling to ten or fifteen degrees below zero, it is 
likewise hot in summer, the thermometer reaching ninety to one hun- 
dred degrees, and hence the Manchurians also raise cotton and tobacco, 
in those sections where the soil is suitable. 

%, Domestic Animals of Manchurians. 

The principal domestic animals of the Manchurians are the shaggy 
little pony, common to all China, and horned cattle. 

One of the most important creatures of the country, however, is 



SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 267 

the dog. This animal is about the size of the American setter, with a 
long ridge of hair running down the back, with long legs and ears, 
giving it a very wolfish appearance ; in color they are black, white, fawn, 
mottled, and some brindled. The skins of these animals have become 
an important article of commerce, being exported to the London fur 
market, where they are sold for robes, to the amount of three to four 
hundred thousand dollars' worth a year. 

There are thousands of small dog farms, scattered over the country, 
and along the eastern border of Mongolia, where from a score to some 
hundreds of dogs are annually reared on each farm, where they con- 
stitute in many cases the chief source of wealth. 

Their value principally lies in the fact that the skins take a brilliant 
black dye, and thus colored are manufactured into sleigh robes and are 
seen throughout all the colder parts of the world, where they are used 
by people who generally do not know what they are. 

This, however, is true of most furs. 

There are also many goat farms of a similar character, whose prod- 
uct not only produces food for the natives, but is sent all over the world 
in the shape of rugs and robes. 

The Russian Sable. 

Northern Manchuria is one of the chief fields for the production 
of the famous "Russian sable," a little animal somewhat resembling the 
American mink in general appearance, except that it lives in the forests 
instead of taking to the water. 

This sable is the most valuable fur in the world, in proportion to the 
size of the skin; while no larger than a small mink, it usually brings 
in the market not less than $25 in an unfinished condition. This costly 
fur, while found throughout Siberia, is most abundant in the lower Amur 
valley and in Northern Manchuria of any place in the world. 

Its pursuit forms a very important business in these regions. The 
hunter has many a hard day of exposure and toil in its chase, following it 
through the snow through the vast wastes of the mountain and tim- 
bered regions during the most inclement season of the year. The little 



268 SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 

creature is taken in traps, and if the Manchu hunter can only succeed 
in getting three or four of them during the winter he thinks himself 
fortunate. Many of these skins are used for Mandarin robes, while the 
tails are exported to the London market. The complete skin is also 
sent all over the world, where it is highly appreciated in all the fash- 
ionable capitals of Europe and America. 

Inasmuch as one of the most popular furs sold by dealers in America 
is jet black, called sable, which is in reality American skunk, it may 
be interesting to mention the exact color of the Russian sable. The 
skin is from nine to twelve inches long, including the tail, which is four 
to five inches; the color varies considerably, brown and dark brown 
being the predominant shades ; light brown, silvery, and animals inter- 
mixed with silvery or white hairs are by no means uncommon. Once 
in a great while, a pure white one is foimd. From some neighborhoods 
the ground of the fur, close to the skin, has a bluish tint, and the 
tail is sometimes tipped with white. The finest dark or almost black 
skins are usually bought for Paris, London and New York, while the 
silvery skins are sent to Russia. 

The Thibetan Bear. 

One of the largest wild animals of Manchuria and Korea is the 
Himalayan or Thibetan bear. This is the animal which the Germans 
call Kragenbar. This animal, which extends from northern India north- 
eastward, lives in the caves of the mountains, and is a fierce animal, diffi- 
cult to dislodge from his native haunts. His color is black, grizzly, or 
light brownish grey. The best known form of this animal has a black, 
glossy coat, with a white crescent on his chest and a patch of the same 
color on the chin. The animal is very retiring in his habits, and it is 
said that he is willing to be let alone, but that when pressed and hunted 
to his den he is a very difficult customer to handle. Like "B'rer Rab- 
bit," he lies low in the daytime, but at night sallies forth, and will eat 
most anything that comes to hand. He will ravage the crops growing 
in the fields, will pluck the fruits, gather acorns and nuts, and does not 
despise now and then a kid or a puppy from the Manchurian stock 
farms. 



SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 269 

The Bushy Tailed Cat. 

In Manchuria is found an animal wiiicli is very little known, although 
of late years its skin has found its way into the fur markets of the world 
in considerable numbers. It is called the red-spotted or bushy-tailed 
cat. The animal is also found in Japan; its general color is of a light 
brown, covered with numerous red spots, from whence it derives its 
name. It is about the size of an ordinary cat, perhaps slightly larger, 
and while its life story has not yet been written it presumably comes 
from the wilder mountainous regions of the countries it inhabits. 

Other Wild Animals. 

Manchuria also possesses wolves of two kinds — the red, or mountain 
wolf, and the common wolf, which is spread throughout the Eastern con- 
tinent, formerly reaching to the British Isles. There is also a bright- 
colored, rather small red fox, a beautiful little animal, recently popular 
for the manufacture of ladies' collarettes, both in natural tints and dyed 
a glossy black, or smoky blue. 

There are also to be found the stag, roebuck, reindeer, lynx, hedge- 
hog, rat, ermine, pole-cat, bat, and the squirrel, common to the northern 
half of the Eastern Hemisphere, and well known to commerce. In 
Manchuria, the back of the squirrel is a very dark blue. It is a pecu- 
liarity of this animal that starting in the British Isles and France of a 
grayish color it gradually grows darker until by the time it reaches 
Siberia it has become blue, and when it reaches Japan it is black. It 
is the same animal all the way from England to Nippon ; white under- 
neath and gray, blue or black above. 

Birds of Manchuria. 

Manchuria has likewise an abundance of birds, perhaps the most 
famous of which is the Mongolian lark ; this little fellow takes the place 
occupied by the mocking-bird in America. It is trapped in great num- 
bers and shipped to the cities of China and the East, where it is very 
popular as a cage bird. It is a remarkable vocalist, imitating the sound 
of any Hving thing almost with which it comes in contact ; it learns the 



270 SIBERIA AND MANCHURIA. 

songs of other birds, the crowing of cocks, the cackling of hens, the 
barking of dogs, the hissing and mewing of cats, and from this pecuHar- 
ity it is held in the highest esteem as a pet in almost every Chinese 
home. The catching and marketing of this lark forms a no-inconsider- 
able source of revenue for the Manchurian peasants. 

Among other birds observed in various parts of the country may 
be mentioned the Mongolian crane, the eagle, doves, kingfisher, pintail 
duck, dusky duck, several varieties of teal, black duck, blue heron, 
buzzard, one or two varieties of hawk, the raven, kestrel, white crane, 
oyster-catcher, bank swallow, several gulls, wagtail, the osprey or fish 
hawk, blue-jay, several varieties of wood-pecker, nut-hatch, white- 
winged tern, common tern, short-eared owl, red-necked nightingale, one 
or two members of the partridge tribe and the black thrush. 

Trees and Plants. • 

Among the trees and plants we may mention the fir, two varieties 
of maple, alder, columbine, wormwood, several varieties of birch, dog- 
wood, hawthorne, three or four varieties of cypress, spindle tree, gen- 
tian, walnut, juniper, pitch pine, poplar, wintergreen, Mongolian oak. 
Rhododendron, the bramble, elder, spiraea, thyme, lime-tree, several 
varieties of whortleberry. 

One of the failures morally of the Chinese is opium smoking. While 
the English by force of arms have opened the ports of China in order 
to give a new market to the poppy farmers of India, the Manchurians 
produce a considerable amount of the opium used in China, and large 
fields of poppies are cultivated in this province. 



CHAPTER XXI. 
THE END OF DIPLOMACY 

The First Shot — Port Arthur the Scene — The Russian View — Statement of Japanese Min- 
ister at Washington — Hostilities at Chemulpo — ^Russia's Reply in the Hands of Alex- 
ieff — Preparation for War — The Unanimity of the Japanese Nation — The Diverse 
Elements of Russia — Russia's Presentation of the Diplomatic Negotiations — The 
Czar's Supreme Manifesto — Secretary Hay's Note. 

WHEN Japan broke off diplomatic relations with Russia, on Feb- 
ruary 5, 1904, Asia, containing half of the world's population, be- 
came a theater of war. Actual hostilities, however, were not inaugu- 
rated until February 8th, three days after diplomatic relations had 
ceased. Reports early indicated that Japan fired the first shot of the 
war, Port Arthur being the scene of conflict. 

Russia likened the sinking of her warships at Port Arthur to the 
blowing up of the Maine in the harbor of Havana. The case, how- 
ever, is far from analogous to the opening up of the Spanish-American 
war. This comparison was advanced by Russia and her friends, the 
French, in the heat of their excitement over the Russian losses. 

When Hostilities Really Began. 

The Japanese minister to the United States at Washington wrote 
a statement on February nth for the author of this work, in which 
he declared that the war began at Chemulpo, Korea, when the Rus- 
sians fired upon the Japanese fleet which was convoying transports 
loaded with soldiers to go ashore on Korean soil. 

However this may be, the hostilities at Port Arthur and Chemulpo 
began on the same day, namely, Monday, February 8th. 

It was on February 4th that the Russian reply to Japan regarding 
the former's intentions in Manchuria and Korea was forwarded to Vice- 
roy Alexieff. It remained in his hands for approval with a view to pre- 
senting it to the Japanese government at Tokio. 

271 



272 THE END OF DIPLOMACY. 

The Japanese had a very correct idea concerning -what Russia's 
answer was to be, and the ^'Little Brown Yankees" of the far East 
decided that it was not satisfactory. This conclusion being reached, 
carried with it the determination, on the part of Japan, that the only 
alternative was war. 

Preparations for War. 

There is abundant evidence to show that Japan had been preparing 
for war during several weeks. Great quantities of supplies in the 
way of ammunition and food products were purchased in the United 
States. The ships of the Nippon Yusem Kasia (Japan Steamship line), 
as well as the ships of other Japanese merchant lines, were impressed 
for army transports and auxiliary cruisers. There is evidence, also, 
that Japan had sent some troops into Korea before hostilities between 
the naval fleets actually began. 

On the 'Other hand, there is no doubt but that Russia had secretly 
invaded portions of Korea adjacent to Manchuria with her troops. In 
other ways also, Russia, undoubtedly, was making every preparation 
for the anticipated war with Japan. 3ut Russia is big and massive. 
Her population is a very mixed one, creating a great diversity in the 
sentiments of her people. 

Unanimity of Purpose. 

This is not true of Japan. When it comes to war the Japanese, as 
a people, stand with their government to the last man. There is no 
country in the world, without a doubt, where patriotism is a passion 
more than it is among Japan's fprty odd million people. This condition 
tended to inflame the entire Japanese population to a war fever of the 
most intense type. The sentiment for war, on the part of the Japanese 
against Russia was universal. There was not a single element among 
the Mikado's subjects which did not actually favor immediate war. 

The Japanese have been in a warlike attitude towards Russia ever 
since the former's complete victory in 1895 over the Chinese. In that 
war Japan took possession of the Lia-o-tung Peninsula of Manchuria, 
at the extreme point of which is now located Russia's naval and mili- 
tary city, Port Arthur, and the new commercial city and port, Dalny, 



THE END OF DIPLOMACY. 273 

fifteen miles from Port Arthur, which Russia has essayed to establish 
as the great mart of the far East. The name of Dalny was adopted in 
1901 by Russia. 

The maps and atlases made previous to that year indicate the place 
where Dalny is located by the old Chinese name, Talien-wan, 

Lost the Fruits of Her Victory. 

The Japanese believed, and with a strong element of truth on their 
side, that she had lost the fruits of her victory over China 'to Russia. 
The world knows that Russia, by diplomacy with the cowed and fear- 
stricken Chinese, has secured a foothold in Manchuria which made that 
province of the Chinese Empire, to all intents and purposes, a Russian 
possession. 

Russia is a land-locked nation, with, practically, no territory facing 
on the great oceans. If there is on ambition of Russia's that is para- 
mount to all others, it is the desire to control the gateway to northern 
China, the Gulf of Pechili, into which the sharply pointed Manchuria 
Peninsula projects for more than two hundred miles. 

Japan Justified in Her Suspicions. 

Korea is a peninsula also. In connects with the main land of the 
continent right against Manchuria. The two countries border each 
other for nearly four hundred miles. With the exception of the penin- 
sula end of Manchuria that country is entirely shut off from the sea by 
Korea. Korea extends into that part of the Pacific Ocean called the 
Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan for five hundred miles against the 
waters of the former and seven hundred miles against the waters of the 
latter. This indicates what an enormous peninsula Korea is and the 
extensive coast line of navigable waters which she possesses. The 
Korean Peninsula commands the approach to the Manchurian Penin- 
sula. Should Korea ever become a possession of one of the great powers 
it will be seen what advantage would accrue to its possessor as a naval 
and military base commanding the situation in the north of the far East 
better than any other territory that could be occupied. There is no doubt 
but that Russia has had longing eyes on this choicest of strategic points 



274 THE END OF DIPLOMACY. 

in the far East. There is every reason to believe that Japan was justi- 
fied in looking with great suspicion upon Russia's intentions regarding 
Korea. 

Korea extends its long arm out from Manchuria in a southeasterly 
direction until its farthest end is very close to the southern end of 
Japan. Fusan, Korea's southernmost port, faces the entrance to the 
Japan Sea, the ideal and placid sea of the world. From Moji to Nagasaki 
it is a little more than a long ferry-boat ride across to Korea's extreme 
point. 

Japan Fighting for Her Life. 

It will be seen how Russia would become a menace to Japan should 
she become possessed of Korea. The Japanese believe that their very 
existence depends upon Korea maintaining her independence and in- 
tegrity. Korea, the hermit nation, is powerless to defend herself 
against any power that might attack her. 

To sum up, Russia desired to come into possession of these two 
far Eastern countries, in particular, to give her complete command of 
the ocean in the far East. In other words, Russia's greed for territory 
led her to encroach upon Japan regardless of the duties and rights of 
the latter in the far East, as well as those of the other great powers 
of the world. At least, this was the Japanese way of looking at the 
question. Those who look at the problem from the Japanese stand- 
point claim that Russia has brought this war upon herself by exasperat- 
ing Japan with her consummate greed and selfishness. On the other 
hand, Japan is fighting for her life as a nation. 

Russia's Presentation of Diplomatic Relations. 

On February 9th the Russian foreign office at St. Petersburg sent 
out a lengthy official statement of the diplomatic negotiaions which 
led up to the rupture. The full text of the paper from the Russian point 
of view follows : 

"Last year the Tokio cabinet, under the pretext of establishing 
the balance of power and a more settled order of things on the shores 
of the Pacific, submitted to the imperial government a proposal for a 



THE END OF DIPLOMACY. 275 

revision of the existing treaties with Korea, Russia consented, and 
Viceroy Alexieff was charged to draw up a project for a new under- 
standing with Japan in co-operation with the Russian minister at Tokio, 
who was instructed with^the negotiations with the Japanese govern- 
ment. Ahhough the exchange of views with the Tokio cabinet on this 
subject were of a friendly character, Japanese social circles and the 
local and foreign press attempted in every way to produce a warlike 
ferment among the Japanese and to drive the government into an armed 
conflict with Russia. Under the influence thereof the Tokio cabinet 
began to formulate greater and greater demands in the negotiations, 
at the same time taking most extensive measures to make the country 
ready for war. 

"All these circumstances could not, of course, disturb Russia's" 
equanimity, but they induced her also to take military and naval meas- 
ures. Nevertheless, to preserve peace in the far East, Russia so far as her 
incontestable rights and interests permitted, gave the necessary atten- 
tion to the demands of the Tokio cabinet and declared herself ready 
to recognize Japan's privileged commercial and economic position in 
the Korean Peninsula, with the concession of the right to protect it by 
military force in the event of disturbances in that country. At the 
same time, while rigorously observing the fundamental principle of her 
policy regarding Korea, whose independence and integrity were guar- 
anteed by previous understandings with Japan and by treaties with 
other powers, Russia insisted on three points : 

Insisted on Three Points. 

"i. On a mutual and unconditional guarantee of this principle. 

"2. On an undertaking to use no part of Korea for strategic pur- 
poses, as the authorization of such action on the part of any foreign 
power was directly opposed^ to the principle of the independence of 
Korea. 

"3. On the preservation of the full freedom of navigation of the 
straits of Korea. 

"The project elaborated in this sense did not satisfy the Japanese 
government, which in its last proposals not only declined to accept the 



2/6 THE END OF DIPLOMACY. 

conditions which appeared as the guarantee of the independence of 
Korea, but also began at the same time to insist on provisions to be 
incorporated in a project regarding the question of Manchuria. 

"Such demands on the part of Japan, naturally, were inadmissible, 
the question of Russia's position in Manchuria concerning in the first 
place China, but also all the powers having commercial interests in 
China. The imperial government, therefore, saw absolutely no reason 
to include in a special treaty with Japan regarding Korean affairs any 
provisions concerning territory occupied by Russian troops. The im- 
perial government, however, did not refuse, so long as the occupation 
of Manchuria lasts, to recognize both the sovereignty of the Emperor 
of China in Manchuria and also the rights acquired there by the other 
powers through treaties with China. A declaration to this effect had 
already been made to the foreign cabinets. 

"In view of this the imperial government, after charging its repre- 
sentative at Tokio to present its reply to the last proposal of Japan, was 
justified in expecting the Tokio cabinet to take into account the con- 
siderations set forth above, and that it would appreciate the wish mani- 
fested by Russia to come to a peaceful understanding with Japan. In- 
stead of this the Japanese government, not even awaiting this reply, 
decided to break ofif negotiations and to suspend diplomatic relations. 
The imperial government, while laying on Japan the full responsibility 
for any consequences of such a course of action, will await the develop- 
ment of events, and the moment it becomes necessary will ^ake the most 
decisive measures for the protection of its rights and interests in the 
far East." 

Nicholas' Supreme Manifesto. 

The Official Messenger, the Russian government organ published 
at St. Petersburg, printed on February loth the following "supreme 
manifest" : 

"By the grace of God we, Nicholas II., emperor and autocrat of all 
the Russias, etc., make known to all our loyal subjects: 

"In our solicitude for the maintenance of peace, which is dear to 



THE END OF DIPLOMACY. 277 

our heart, we made every exertion to consolidate tranquility in the 
far East. In these peaceful aims we signified assent to the proposals 
of the Japanese government to revise agreements regarding Korean 
affairs existing between the two governments. However, the negotia- 
tions begun upon this subject were not brought to a conclusion, and 
Japan, without awaiting the receipt of the last responsive proposals 
of our government, declared the negotiations broken off and diplomatic 
relations with Russia dissolved. 

"Without advising us of the fact that the breach of such relations 
would, in itself, mean an opening of warlike operations, the Japanese 
government gave orders to its torpedo boats to suddenly attack our 
squadron standing in the outer harbor of the fortress of Port Arthur. 
Upon receiving reports from the viceroy in the far East about this, 
we immediately commanded him to answer the Japanese challenge with 
armed force. 

"Making known, this our decision, we, with unshaken faith In the 
help of the Almighty, and with a firm expectation of and reliance 
upon the unanimous willingness of all our loyal subjects to stand with 
us in defense of the fatherland, ask God's blessing upon our stalwart 
land and naval forces. 

"Given at St. Petersburg, January 27, 1904, A. D. (new calendar, 
February 9, 1904), and in the tenth year of our reign. Written in full 
by the hand of "His imperial majestv, 

"NICHOLAS." 

The Famous Hay Note. 

The United States department of state, by our Secretary of State, 
John Hay,, on February loth issued a statement to the powers of the 
world defining the position of this government and at the same time 
inviting the great powers to join us in the stand we had taken. This 
statement will go down in history as the "Hay note." It was Issued 
after our Secretary of State had obtained a number of preliminary 
exchanges of views between this government and the other governments 
interested in Chinese affairs and in keeping the commerce of that 



278 THE END OF DIPLOMACY. 

country open. The note which was sent to Ambassador McCormick, 
our diplomatic representative at St. Petersburg, and Minister Griscom, 
our representative at Tokio, as well as to the other leading European 
powers, and to Peking, China, follows : 

"You will express to the minister for foreign affairs the earnest 
desire of the government of the United States that in the course of 
the military operations which have begun between Russia and Japan 
the neutrality of China and in all practicable ways her administrative 
entity shall be respected by both parties, and that the area of nostilities 
shall be localized and limited as much as possible, so that undue ex- 
citement and disturbance of the Chinese people may be prevented and 
the least possible loss to the commerce and peaceful intercourse of the 
world may be occasioned. 

"(Signed) JOHN HAY." 

At the same time this government informed all the powers signa- 
tory of the protocol at Peking of its action, and requested similar action 
on their part. 

A Diplomatic Triumph. 

In the above short note Secretary Hay added another to his long 
list of diplomatic triumphs, and the United States was once more en- 
abled by his diplomacy to head the nations in a concurrent effort to pre- 
serve the integrity of China, Mr. Hay's note to Russia and Japan, 
urging them to confine hostilities within as small an area as possible 
and to respect the neutrality and administrative entity of China, was 
accepted by Russia as well as by Japan, and all the nations have joined 
the Washington, government in inviting the combatants to agree to the 
proposition. 



CHAPTER XXII. 
RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES 

Japanese Armies — Uniform and Accoutrements of the Russian Troops — Transportation 
Methods — What the Japanese Soldier Wears — His Knapsack — His Pay — Discipline of 
the Japanese Army — The Drill — Russians and Japanese Equal in Courage and Dis- 
cipline — Number of Troops in Field. 

THE style of uniform and the manner of living on the part of Rus- 
sian and Japanese soldiers pitted against each other in the desper- 
ate war in the far East, is of particular interest. One who has observed 
the armies of the Czar and the Mikado in the allied campaign in China 
during 1900 cannot well forget the dress that was peculiar to each of 
these armies, as well as the way they lived. 

Uniform of Russian Troops. 

The uniform generally worn by the enlisted men in the Russian 
army is apparently the same for all arms except the distinctive marks. 
It consists of a soft, flat white cap with sloping visor, a white blouse of 
cotton cloth, very loose and belted at the waist with a leather strap. 
The trousers are plain black. The foot gear consists of heavy top 
boots, reaching to the calf of the leg. The winter coat is of black cloth, 
similar otherwise to the summer blouse. 

A characteristic feature of the infantry soldier is that he carries no 
bayonet scabbard. His bayonet is always fixed and his rifle apparently 
never out of reach of his hand. The ammunition is carried in pouches 
on the waist belt. The rations are of the simplest kind, consisting of 
hard, brown bread, salt, pepper and tea. They are industrious foragers, 
as was amply proven in the North China campaign, where they supplied 
meat and other items by this means from the abundant resources of 
the country. 

279 



28o RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 

Russian Troops Have No Tents. 

The troops have no tentage. In their camps the men Hve in houses 
or huts made of native mats or of other similar material. When on the 
march or guard duty the discipline of the Russian infantry seems to be up 
to the excellent standard which it has the reputation of maintaining. 
The handling of their artillery, however, seems to be awkward to those 
who have witnessed the American artillery in operation. 

The Russian cavalry consists entirely of Cossacks. They are mounted 
on rough, shaggy little ponies, of about the size of the diminutive In- 
dian ponies of the West. They carry heavy, slightly curved saber and 
rifle slung over the shoulder. The Russian transportation, other than 
the native Manchurian carts, consists of small, very low four-wheeled 
wagons, drawn by two ponies, and seem to have no features that any na- 
tion would consider worthy of making a pattern of. 

The Traveling Field Kitchen. 

A notable feature of the Russian equipment, however, is the trav- 
eling field kitchen, consisting of a boiler, mounted on a special wagon, 
so arranged that it can be in operation while in motion. The arrange- 
ment apparently is a very convenient one, and presents some desirable 
features. The meals of the men is always^in process of cooking during 
the march, in order to be ready when the halt is made. When it is 
necessary to travel by rail, this wagon kitchen is put into a fiat car and 
the process of cooking goes on while the train is in motion. These 
kitchens on w^heels are also operated on river steamers and steamships 
when in transport. The apparatus is undoubtedly one that gives a very 
prompt and satisfactory service of the men's food. The military ex- 
perts of the United States have recently become very much interested 
in this idea which originated in the Russian army. 

Uniform of the Japanese Troops. 

The summer uniform of the Japanese soldier is of the same cut as 
that for winter service, but is of white cotton material. It is cool and 



RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 281 

easily laundered, but has the serious defect of being extremely con- 
spicuous. The winter uniform, with the exception of the cavalry trou- 
sers, which are red, is of a dark blue woolen material, warm and very 
neat in appearance. The cap is slightly bell shaped, with flat crown 
and small drooping visor. It is ornamented by a narrow yellow band 
at the junction of the crown and sides, and another band or braid at 
the top of the sides, about one and one-half inches wide, yellow in all 
cases, except the commisariat, in which case it is a blue or medium in- 
tensity. All caps have a star in the center of the front just above the 
vistor. 

Picturesque But Conspicuous. 

The blouse is fairly close fitting, extends about three inches below 
the belt, and is fastened with five buttons. It has a standard collar 
faced with the color of the arm, red for infantry, green for cavalry, 
yellow for artillery, blue for commissariat, and dark red for engineers. 
A strap about two inches wide extends from the neck to the point of the 
shoulder and has on it the number of the regiment. In the cavalry this 
strap is replaced by a braided shoulder knot, and the blouse has the 
back seam ornamented with yellow stripes and the front with five hori- 
zontal stripes of yellow, the ends terminating in falling loops. This 
ornament, together with the red trousers, makes a very picturesque and 
striking uniform with the attendant disadvantage of being very con- 
spicuous. In the cavalry the trousers below the knee are cut to fit 
closely and facilitate the wearing of the boot. In the infantry they fit 
loosely, but are usually confined by khaki-colored leggings. 

Japanese Cavalry. 

The cavalry is furnished with boots and the infantry with a rather 
coarsely made and low cut leather shoe. The foot gear seems much in- 
ferior to that used in the United States army. The overcoat is of dark 
blue, fits loosely, extends nearly to the ankle, is unlined, and furnished 
with a hood. When not worn it is carried compactly rolled and slung 
over one shoulder, the ends fastened together on the opposite side of 
the body. During the warm weather it seems to be carried and used 



282 RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 

in lieu of a blanket. The fitting of the uniform is simplified by the 
great uniform.ity in the size and build of the Japanese soldier. It should 
require but a few sizes to furnish a good fit for all the men. 

What the Japanese Soldier Carries. 

The Japanese have a pack of leather, tanned with the hair on. This 
pack is not in favor and is usually replaced by an elongated cloth bag 
about nine inches in diameter. In this bag is carried a reserve supply 
of sixty rounds of ammunition, some spare parts for the rifle, including 
a first aide's package, a small package of thread, needles, and buttons, 
and an emergency ration for one day. 

The pail in which is carried the day's ordinary ration is also carried 
in this bag, except when the pack is worn. In the latter case the pail 
is carried on top of the pack. The ends of the bag are tied together and 
the bag is slung over the shoulder opposite to the blanket or overcoat. 
The soldier has also a small bag similar to our haversack and carried in 
thie same manner, but much smaller, in which he carries certain mis- 
cellaneous articles of his own choice. 

In the rear pouches thrown across the horses in the Japanese cavalry, 
is a set of shoes for the horse ; also a leather shield, that can be fastened 
to the hoof by thong for use in emergency. In the front pouches there 
is always kept the one day emergency ration of rice for both trooper 
and horse. The horses are extremely small as compared with the 
American horse, being no more than ponies. The weight they carry, 
live and dead, is much less than with our cavalry. 

What the Japanese Government Pays Its Men. 

The Japanese soldiers are divided into three classes, first, second 
and third; the class being indicated by three, two and one stripe of 
yellow on the lower part of the sleeve. In time of war they receive 
their pay every ten days. For that period the third class receive forty- 
five sen, or twenty-two and a half cents, equal to two and a quarter 
cents per day. The second class receive sixty sen, or thirty cents (3 
cents a day) every ten days. The first class receive eighty sen (40 



RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 283 

cents) or 4 cents a day. Corporals one yen 80 sen, or ninety cents, 
equal to 9 cents a day. Sergeants two yen 80 sen, or $1.40, equal to 14 
cents a day. The government compels their soldiers to send their sala- 
ries to their dependent families, in fact, the government mails it to the 
families direct. 

The monthly salaries of officers in time of peace are as follows : Sub- 
lieutenant, thirty-five yen ; lieutenant, forty-five yen ; captain, sixty-five 
yen; major, one hundred and ten yen; lieutenant-colonel, one hundred 
and sixty yen; colonel, two hundred and ten yen; major-general, three 
hundred and ten yen ; lieutenant-general, four hundred and twenty yen ; 
general, five hundred and twenty-five yen. 

The officers' salaries are increased by two-fifths in time of war. The 
Japanese private soldier, when he first enlists, receives a salary of about 
sixty-seven cents a month. The United States soldier, of the same class, 
igeceives just about twenty times as much pay per month. It will be 
seen that the Japanese enlisted men are advanced, in pay, about one- 
third after they have served a year or two and have become soldiers of 
the second class. The advance from second to first class amounts to an 
increase of twenty-five per cent in wages. The highest price paid the 
private soldier in Japan, and that after they have served for several 
years, is about $1.20 per month. It will be observed that the pay of the 
officers in the Japanese army is very much less than in the United 
States army. 

Rations of the Mikado's Troops. 

The rations of the Japanese soldiers consists of about 36 ounces of 
rice, 4 ounces of meat, and 4 ounces of vegetables! One day's ordinary 
ration is carried in the soldier's aluminum bucket which serves as his 
cooking utensil, and the hollow lid of which carries the meat portion. 
One day's emergency rations consisting of three sacks of very fine 
quality rice and a can of meat, containing about four ounces, is always 
carried and can be used only by order of the commanding officer. It is 
the intention always to keep the regimental transportation sufficiently 
far to the front to make it unnecessary for the soldiers to carry more 
than one day's ordinary rations. 



284 RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 

Japanese Transportation Methods. 

The Japanese transportation consists of carts and pack animals. The 
cart is very light and is drawn by one pony attended by one man of the 
transport service. As compared to our army or escort wagons, there 
is a great loss of man and draught animal labor, for the combatant force 
of 18,000 the Japanese, in the war in China during 1900, had 4,000 non- 
combatants and six thousand horses. The cart does have the advantage 
of not reqiiiring such heavy or substantial bridges and can go through 
narrower trails. 

The pack saddle consists of two padded sides joined by iron arches. 
The packages are tied to or hung upon the saddle. It is well adapted 
for supplying ammunition to the firing line. One mule takes two boxes 
and can be led by the routes giving the most protection. 

Excellent Discipline. 

The -discipline of the Japanese army is most excellent. Its military 
code has been borrowed from those of Europe, and retains the essential 
features. There are tribunals for the trial of serious offenses and the 
punishment is usually imprisonment. The division commander has 
authority to approve the death sentence and to have the same executed. 
Company, battalion and regimental commanders can order corrective 
confinement. The length of time that can be ordered increases with 
the rank of the commander, the greatest being thirty days. 

Only a few years ago, in what Japanese refer to as "feudal times," 
corrective chastisement (such as cuffing the offender over the head or 
kicking him on the shins) was used for inattention at drill and like 
offenses. Now such proceeding is forbidden by their military code. 

A Simple Drill. 

The drill of the Japanese infantry is characterized by simplicity, 
directness and precision. In the manual of arms there are but three 
positions of the piece — order, right shoulder and present. The company 
is divided into three platoons, and each platoon into four groups; the 



RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 285 

habitual formation seems to be in line or column of platoons at about 
five yards distance. The rear rank stands and marches at about one 
yard distance from the front rank. The column of route is in fours if 
the road allows ; if the road is too narrow for column of fours, then in 
column of twos. Fours are formed by all facing to the right (or left) 
and each alternate file stepping to the right oblique, so as to come 
abreast of the file immediately in front. 

Battle Formation. 

In the battle formation, the movements are at a run, the platoon 
deploys to the front by an oblique fan-shaped movement, the other 
platoons kneeling. The front seems to be about what the front of a 
company would be in battalion. 

The advance is made by rushes of about fifty yards, file firing being 
at each halt. The two platoons in support follow, taking advantage of 
the folds of ground to obtain shelter during the halts. The second 
platoon takes part in the rapid fire preceding the assault, joining under 
cover of the fire of the first platoon. The third platoon also comes up 
to immediately in rear of the firing line and takes part in the assault. 
In the rushes and the assaults the officers and the non-commissioned 
officers are in front, dropping back into the line on halting. 

The drill is conspicuous by its precision and the attention paid by 
each soldier. Each one is wide awake to see what he ought to do and 
does it without much prompting from the file closers. It is very seldom 
that one of the latter is heard to speak to any of the men. 

The Japanese soldier enters the service at twenty-one. serves three 
years and then goes into the first reserve for five years. After that he 
goes into the second reserve for four years. 

Obedient and Patriotic. 

He receives almost no pay, as the scale of wages indicated above 
show, but is actuated by a most intense patriotism and pride in his posi- 
tion as a soldier. He is very obedient, and yet has an individualism that 
does not always go with such strict discipline, He has a g'reat curiosity 



286 RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 

to see what is going on, both on and off duty as a sentinel he stands at 
ease, but with an air of showing that he is a sentinel and that he is 
constantly on the alert. 

The compulsory service and strict physical requirements with the 
system of reserve, allows Japan to put a large body of trained men in 
the field at short notice. If Japan can keep the armament and equip- 
ment on a par with her soldiers she is a most valuable ally and a most 
formidable enemy, 

Russian and Japanese Soldiers Compared. 

In the light of history, both the Russian and Japanese soldiers are 
seen to be first-class fighting men. There is little to choose between 
them, except that the Russian is far less intelligent and depends more 
upon leadership than the Japanese. Their courage and discipline may 
be ranked about equal. The Japanese is a fiery, impetuous fighter, 
always eager to lead a forlorn hope or storm a battery; the Russian is 
heavy, dogged and determined to the point of death. 

Stubborn but Easily Demoralized. 

The British found in the Crimea that when once the Russian infantry 
occupied a position and got ready to light it was practically impossible 
to drive them from that position; it was necessary to kill them all before 
it could be taken. But, on the other hand, a surprise frequently made 
them lose their wits and retreat in confusion, and after the loss of their 
officers they were of little use as an effective fighting force. They 
simply became a mob, knowing not where to turn or v/hat to do. 

The estimate of the Russians was given to the writer by a retired 
British officer who fought them in most of the battles of the Crimean 
war and was wounded in the attack on the Redan. 

A Strong Spirit of Brotherhood. 

The discipline of the Japanese army is not so strict as that of the 
Russian, but in the judgment of foreign experts it is quite as effective 
because the men are so keen on doing their duty. They obey readily 
because they like to be good soldiers, not because they fear their officers. 



RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 287 

There is a strong spirit of brotherhood among officers and men in the 
Japanese army, which is largely due to their experiences in the China- 
Japanese war and the Peking relief expedition. They have tested each 
other and been satisfied. The Russian soldier's discipline is stolid — 
perfect from the military point of view, but devoid of all enthusiasm. 
He obeys the officer because he has never dreamed of doing anything 
but obey, even before he became a soldier. 

The Japanese soldiers are mainly drawn from the Cho-su clan, to 
which the emperor. Marquis Ito, and nearly all Japan's leading generals 
belong. The officers of the navy, on the contrary, belong, with but few 
exceptions, to the Satsuma clan. All the officers in the Japanese services 
come from Samurai stock, and their ancestors for over two thousand 
years were as fine fighting men as the world has ever seen. 

Japanese Cavalry Weak. 

The weakest branch of the Japanese army is undoubtedly the caval- 
ry. The Japs are not good horsemen, and the breed of horses in Japan 
is distinctly inferior. Heroic efforts have been made by the Tokio war 
office in recent years to improve this branch of the service, but without 
much success. Among other things, a special college, for the education 
of cavalry officers only, was established. 

"The Japanese cavalrymen," an English officer once remarked to 
the writer, "can master with ease every detail of his work — except how 
to ride decently. He never learns that." 

The Cossacks. 

The Cossacks, on the contrary, have the reputation among military 
experts of being the finest irregular cavalry in the world, and those 
whom one sees in Russia and central Asia are always splendidly 
mounted. Of course, it does not follow that they would be equally 
well mounted in Manchuria and Korea. Native horses will probably be 
depended on to a large extent, for the transporting capacity of the 
Siberian railway will be sufficiently taxed in carrying men without 
bringing their horses. 



288 RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 

The Artillery of the Two Nations. 

The artillery of the Japanese is a strong arm of the force in number 
of guns, excellence of material and training of the gunners. The Japan- 
ese, as a rule, are not good marksmen, because the eyesight of the entire 
nation is more or less defective. But men with first-class vision have 
been picked out for the artillery and the military attaches of the foreign 
legations at Tokio have praised their shooting over and over again in 
official reports to the government. 

The only defect of the artillery — and it is a serious one — ^^is the in- 
feriority of the horses. The Russian artillery is better horsed and bears 
a reputation of high efficiency. In the Russo-Turkish w^ar, it may be 
remembered, the Russian guns were splendidly handled, as a rule. 

The Japanese infantry was declared by Gen. Grant, Lord Wolseley, 
Gen, Chafifee and many other competent observers to be as good as any 
in the world. "The only thing I would object to in it, if I were an 
officer," declared a former military attache of the United States legation 
at Tokio, "is the absolute likeness of the men to one another. They are 
as like as a dish of peas. I don't see how their officers can tell them 
apart, and that is awkward, you know, when you are commanding a 
company." 

Officers of Both Services Educated. 

Great attention is paid to the education of officers in both services,, 
but the Japanese probably lead in this respect. The military college 
and academy at Tokio turn out officers of great intelligence and military 
knowledge. Gen, Grant said they were among the best of their kind 
in the world, and quite equal to good West Pointers, Many of them 
are wealthy men belonging to the leading noble families of Japan, but 
they live in a simple. Spartan style. True to their Samurai traditions, 
they regard luxury as effeminate and despise foreign officers who waste 
their time over social "duties" instead of learning their profession. The 
Japanese officer is quite satisfied to live on dried or salted fish and rice, 
like his men. Princes of the imperial family did it when they cam- 
paigned in Manchuria during the war with China. 



RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 289 

Many of the Russian officers are equally hardy, if not so abstemious, 
for they have received a splendid training in Central Asian campaigns, 
and in outpost, pioneer, survey and exploring work in Siberia, Tibet, 
the Pamirs and Manchuria. It is these men, in all probability, who will 
have charge of the fighting forces of the Russians in Manchuria, for 
Russia's consistent policy is to employ in Asiatic wars, officers with 
Asiatic experience. 

The officers whose military career has been confined to Moscow, St, 
Petersburg and other cities of European Russia are men of an entirely 
different type. Most of them are social butterflies, and they are held in 
scorn by their comrades in Central Asia and Manchuria — the regions 
to which every Russian officer who is worth his salt manages to get 
sent. 

Number of Japanese Troops in the Field. 

At the outbreak of the war it was estimated that the strength of the 
regular army of Japan, not including the reserves, when placed on a 
war footing was about 200,000 men; the reserves added 35,000 more, 
and the territorial army supplied 200,000 more, making a total of 435,- 
000 men. 

It was estimated that Russia could not put into Manchuria, properly 
provisioned and equipped for service, more than three or four hundred 
thousand men. Not that Russia had not sufficient men to expand her 
force almost without limit, but the strain of supplying a larger force 
than about four hundred thousand made it almost impracticable to 
depend upon operations of a greater magnitude. 

The best authorities agreed that the light rails of the Siberian rail- 
road could never stand the wear and tear of transporting 400,000 troops 
and the supplies and equipment for such a force that might be required 
in operations of six months or a year. Many travelers say that only 
thirty-pound rails were used on the older portion of the road. A thirty- 
pound rail is as light as the ordinary street car rail. 

Where the Japanese had the advantage of the Russians was in field 
artillery, but this was more than offset by the Russian cavalry. The 



290 RUSSIAN AND JAPANESE ARMIES. 

200,000 regular Japanese had 19 six-battery regiments and field and 
mountain artillery organized into 1 14 batteries mounting 684 guns. 

Russian Soldiers Available for Service. 

A careful estimate of the organization of the First and Second 
Siberian Corps showed about 147,000 Russians when the corps were 
organized on a war footing. There should be added to this number 
the cavalry force, estimated in the official pubHcation of the French 
General Staff at about 22,930 Cossacks with 19,300 horses. 

This organization, according to the French General Staff, was in the 
districts of Siberia, Semirechensk, Transbaikalia, the Amur and Ussuri 
and was about 14.7 per cent of the population available for Cossack 
service. 

The Russian cavalry was a factor of more than usual importance, 
and army officers said it would accomplish great things before the war 
was over. 

Two new rifle brigades were also created, and the British Army and 
Navy Gazette figured a total of about 300,000 Russians available for 
service in Manchuria. But with the two Siberian corps of about 147,- 
000 men, there were only 286 guns, which gave the Japanese a decided 
artillery advantage. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS 

American Nurses Offer their Services to Japan — The First Expedition — ^What the Offer 
Meant to Japan — The Japanese Red Cross Society — United States Officers Study the 
War — Uniforms Required — Absence of Swords — Military Etiquette. 

THE women of the United States were the first to furnish trained 
nurses for the war between Russia and Japan. Even before war 
was declared several American women offered their services to Japan 
as army nurses. On March 7th, Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee, of Wash- 
ington, started across the Pacific for Japan with a party of nine other 
women. 

Nurses Study the Language. 

Upon deciding to make the venture in the interest of humanity these 
brave women began the study of the Japanese language. They engaged 
a teacher in the tongue of that country and retained his services through- 
out the voyage. The names of the first expedition of American trained 
nurses were as follows : Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee, Miss Barbara 
Wiedman, who was operating nurse in the ship Relief in the Philippines; 
Miss Mary E. Gladwin, of Boston, a woman of valuable experience who 
was chief nurse at the Sternberg Hospital at Chicamauga during the 
Spanish war; Miss Annie Robbins, who was the chief nurse of the 7th 
Army Corps and served for a long time in the Philippines; Miss Sarah 
Welpton, of St. Louis, who was in the army from the beginning of the 
Spanish war until recently; Mrs. K. W. Eastman, of New York; Miss 
Elizabeth Stack, of Brooklyn, who was engaged in teaching the hospital 
corps at Washington Barracks ; Miss Emma Kennedy, who was with 
the Seventh Army Corps during the Spanish war. She saw service in 
Cuba and the Philippines and at the Army Tuberculosis Hospital at 
Fort Bayard, New Mexico; Miss Sophia E. Newell, of Jersey City, and 

291 



292 AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 

Miss Alice Kemmer, of Sweetzer, Indiana, who attained considerable 
fame for her work in the Philippines and in the allied campaign in 
China of 1900. 

Formal Offer to Japan. 

It will be remembered that the Americans were the only women 
nurses in China during the war. The Sisters of the Russian Church 
were at Taku but that was the nearest any but the American women 
got to the marching armies. Dr. McGee, at the head of this band of 
women who engaged in this practical work of humanity, was President 
of the Spanish-American war nurses. In the autumn of 1903, when war 
between Russia and Japan seemed to be approaching, she took unofficial 
and finally formal steps toward the participation of the Spanish-Ameri- 
can war nurses in the work of the war in the Far East, by sending the 
following letter to his excellency, Kogoro Takahira, the Japanese Min- 
ister to the United States: 

To His Excellency, 

The Minister from Japan, 
Washington, D. C. 
Sir: 

Through your Excellency I have the honor to ofifer to your govern- 
ment, if war should be declared, the services of a party of American 
ex-army nurses to assist in nursing the sick and wounded of the Japan- 
ese army. The party would consist exclusively of women who have 
graduated from our well equipped training schools for nurses, requiring 
two or three years residence and work in a hospital, and who have also 
had large experience in their profession since graduation. A part of 
their experience was gained by regular service in the army of the United 
States, during the Spanish war and the Philippines and Chinese cam- 
paigns ; so that they are familiar with camp life and accustomed to army 
discipline. 

Approximately two thousand were appointed to our army during 
the ten years when the Nurse Corps in my charge (under immediate 
direction of Surgeon-General Sternberg), and six hundred of those who 



AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 293 

served in 1898 belong to the Association of Spanish-American nurses, 
which was organized over three years ago, and of which I have the honor 
to be President. The number to constitute the proposed party will, of 
course, depend upon your wishes and the amount of contributions to be 
received from the American people. Each nurse would be pledged to 
remain at least six months, if needed so long. I take the liberty of sug- 
gesting that I could start almost immediately after a declaration of 
war, taking with me a few nurses with the highest degree of surgical 
skill, and that additional nurses could be cabled for if the need arose. 

I presume you would desire to furnish quarters and rations from the 
time of arrival in Japan. 

With the earnest hope that this expression of friendship from the 
people of the United States will meet with the approval and sanction 
of your government, I have the honor to be, with high consideration, 

your obedient servant. 

(Signed) Anita Newcomb McGee, 

President Society Spanish-American War Nurses (1898 to 1901, Acting 
Ass't Surgeon of the United States Army in Charge of Army Nurse 

Corps). 

The Japanese Minister's Reply. 

V 

The Japanese Minister replied : 

"I am deeply impressed by your offer to my government of the 
services of the ex-army nurses nov/ belonging to the association under 
your presidency, in case they should be needed by the Japanese army, 
I can assure you that the friendship and sympathy on the part of the 
American ladies who devote their efforts to the noble objects of your 
association of which your letter is so graceful in evidence, will be widely 
and cordially recognized in Japan, and to that end I will take pleasure 
in communicating it to my government at the earliest opportunity." 

Dr. McGee's letter, offering the co-operation of the American women 
made an excellent impression in Japan, it is said. The news of Dr. 
McGee's intention were, of course, cabled to Japan and printed in the 
newspapers there. But war had not at that time been decided upon. 



294 AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 

Of course, Japan could not accept any such offer until after the declara- 
tion, which occurred on Feb. ii. The offer was later accepted by Mr. 
Takahira in the following letter: 

The Japanese Government Accepts. 

"In reference to your offer of services of a party of American ex- 
army nurses to assist in nursing the sick and wounded of the Japanese 
army, I have now received a telegram from the Minister for Foreign 
Affairs, informing me that the Red Cross Society of Japan is prepared 
to accept their services with full appreciation of the high motives which 
animated you to make this offer. In doing so, however, I am asked to 
say the Society wishes to suggest that you would come over to Japan 
with a few nurses, as you proposed, leaving the others to be cabled for 
if the actual necessity should call for such a step, as, in the opinion of 
the Society, it is still uncertain that such an occasion will present itself," 

Not Equipped for War. 

An unprofessional person not familiar with the conditions in Japan 
can hardly realize how much this offer of assistance meant to the army 
of the Island Kingdom. While Japan was well enough equipped with 
nurses for peace times, neither she nor, with the possible exception of 
Great Britain and the United States, any other country is adequately 
prepared in time of war. Our own experiences in the Spanish-American 
war gave us some notion of what would very soon be the plight of 
Japan. Dr. McGee estimated that there were living in this country 
25,000 graduated nurses, and yet there were not enough available to 
supply the needs of the American Navy in the Spanish war. About 
1,500 nurses worked with the army in 1898 under the direction of Dr. 
McGee, who from that year until 1901 was an Acting-Assistant-Surgeon 
in the United States Army in charge of the army nurse corps. Fully a 
thousand more nurses could have been employed to a great advantage. 
These nurses were available for service; but the officers and men were 
gradually returning to their homes on furlough, afflicted with sickness 
or wounds, and the nurses were employed to assist in bringing them 



AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 295 

back to health and strength. So it is that in war times the demands 
upon this profession in the combating countries are pretty sure to be 
much greater than the supply. 

The Red Cross Organization. 

The Mikado has an immense Red Cross organization, with a mem- 
bership of 800,000 and over $2,000,000 to work with. This organization 
is under the direct patronage of the Emperor and the Empress, and is, 
no doubt, a very powerful and effective society. But it appears that the 
Japanese Red Cross was not in a position to do all that should be re- 
quired of such a body in an emergency like the war with Russia. Its 
principal duty was to collect money and supplies for relief work and to 
give instruction in the first stage to men who served the army in the 
field. But army officers know that women nurses are well nigh indis- 
pensable, and of these the Japanese Red Cross had not a sufficient 
number. It is true that there was a hospital at Tokio maintained by 
the Society, and several hundred nurses have been graduated there, 
among them being young ladies of high position. But this provision, 
though sufficient in time of peace, is likely to prove sadly inadequate in 
war times. 

The Tented Field Had No Terrors. 

Moreover — and this is doubtless the most important consideration — 
Japanese women nurses had never been sent outside of their own coun- 
try, and were utterly devoid of experience on the field of battle. The 
armed camp, on the other hand, had no terrors for any of the women 
who went from this country for Japan. These American nurses knew 
what it meant to live in a tent, without the conveniences of a peaceful 
home, and to work for thirty-six continuous hours if necessary, and to 
aid in surgical operations. This is the kind of work they did in the 
Spanish war, and they were able to show their Japanese sisters many 
things which those slant and almond-eyed nurses did not thoroughly 
understand. 

The Japanese Red Cross Society is under military control, so the 
American nurseg received orders from Japanese officers. The American 



296 AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 

party first proceeded to Osaka, the greatest industrial city of Japan, 
located on that fairy land's famous inland sea. Osaka was the military 
medical base. The Emperor had established headquarters at the ancient 
capital at Kioto, about two hours by rail from Osaka, and the American 
women were able to be on hand to report for duty wherever they were 
needed. 

United States Officers Study the War. 

In the Orient our government established at the opening of nostili- 
ties a vast war laboratory, and fourteen Yankee officers — the largest 
delegation ever dispatched by us on such a mission — were detailed to 
study the bloody science of killing. 

Eight of these — six military and two naval experts — studied the 
conflict from the Russian side, while six — five from the army and one 
irom the navy — observed the struggle within the Japanese lines. On 
the Russian side we were represented by one brigadier-general, one 
colonel and five captains, of the army; one lieutenant-commander and 
one lieutenant of the navy. With the plucky Japs we had one colonel,, 
one major and three captains of our land forces and one lieutenant- 
commander of our fleet. All branches of our army — artillery, cavalry, 
infantry and engineers — were represented within the battle lines of 
the Slavs; all except cavalry on the side of the Japanese. A member of 
our general staff was with each army. Five of these military observers 
were detailed from Manila ; two from this country. Three had already 
arrived at the seat of war when the first gun was fired at Port Arthur. 

, Lessons of Value. 

Our War and Navy Departments realized many months before the 
war began that a bloody conflict in the Orient was inevitable and that 
lessons of inestimable value to the United States were to be learned 
from it. These fourteen Yankee war observers were selected with great 
care. They were all men of surpassing courage and perspicuity. They 
kept their ears and eyes wide open, but at the same time carefully 
observed the delicate formulas of international law governing men of 
their status. 



AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 297 

They were entertained as the official guests of the respective bellig- 
erents to whom accredited. They waded into the gore of battle and 
divided their time between the headquarters of the highest royal per- 
sonages in the theater of war and those of the commanders-in-chief. 
They enjoyed the protection accorded always to non-combatants. Any 
deliberate attempts against their lives or safety, on the part of either 
the Russians or Japanese, would have been resented by our government 
as a serious insult. Such an act might have led to a bloody war between 
the United States and the offending government. 

Took Preliminary Tour. 

Our observer of highest rank on the Russian side was Brigadier- 
General Henry T. Allen, chief of the Philippine constabulary. Fore- 
seeing the approach of the conflict, he obtained leave of absence from 
Manila and, at his own expense, made a long tour of study through 
Korea and Manchuria. Inasmuch as he was for several years our mili- 
tary attache at the court of the Czar, he was well known to the Russian 
officers and was at home among them. Colonel John B. Kerr, who 
represented our general staff on the Russian side, was a cavalry officer 
and a native of Kentucky. He went from Manila to join the Russians, 
as did Captain Carl Reichman, of the Seventeenth Infantry, and Captain 
George G. Gatley, of the Artillery Corps. Captain Reichman was a 
German who enlisted in our army as a private in 1881 and worked his 
way up through the ranks, gaining a commission in three years of 
service. He was captain and assistant adjutant-general of volunteers 
during the Spanish-American war and captain of the regular army since 
that struggle. Captain Gatley was a native of Maine and a West 
Pointer. He left the Seventeenth Field Artillery in the Philippines to 
join the Czar's army. The other two military observers on the Russian 
side were Captain William V. Judson, a Hoosier and a West Pointer 
who was lately attached to the office of the chief engineer at Washing- 
ton, and Captain Andre W. Brewster, a Jerseyman commissioned from 
civilian life in 1885. Captain Brewster was our military attache at 
Peking, China, where he was doing duty when the present war opened. 



298 AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 

Our ranking observer on the Japanese side was Colonel E. H. Crow- 
der, the general staff's authority on military law. He had previously 
been attached to the War Department as assistant judge-advocate-gen- 
eral. He was a Missourian, a West Pointer and an ex-cavalry officer. 
Major Oliver E. Wood, who observed the struggle from the standpoint 
of the Mikado's army, was our military attache at Seoul and Tokio, at 
which latter capital he was serving when hostilities commenced. A 
Connecticut Yankee, who enlisted in the Union army as a private in 
'62, he won a cadetship at West Point a year later and was a major in 
the Artillery Corps when accredited to Seoul and Tokio. The three 
other army officers detailed on the Japanese side were Captain J. F. 
Morrison, Twentieth Infantry; Captain J. E. Kuhn, Engineer Corps, 
both of whom departed from Manila, and Captain Frederick Marsh, 
Artillery Corps, who had been stationed at Fort Strong, Massachusetts. 
These three captains were West Pointers and men of thorough tech- 
nical training. 

Our Intelligence Bureaus. 

In Washington there is maintained under the War Department a 
bureau of military intelligence, corresponding to the bureau of the 
French army to which the martyred Dreyfus was attached. The head of 
this office, at the time of the Russo-Japanese war, was Major W. D. 
Beach, Tenth Cavalry, a member of the new general staff. To him all 
of our military observers in the Orient reported such data as they 
gathered at the seat of war, the modus operandi being the same as in 
the case of our regularly accredited military attaches at the great Euro- 
pean courts. 

Under the Navy Department there is a similar bureau, in charge 
of Captain Seaton Schroeder, U. S. N., to whom our three naval observ- 
ers accredited to the belligerent powers reported. Lieutenant-Com- 
mander C. C. Marsh, our naval attache at Peking and Tokio, studied 
the war from the Japanese fleet, while Lieutenant N. A. McCully, late 
of the United States dispatch boat Dolphin, was attached to the Russian 
fleet. Lieutenant-Commander R. C. Smith, our naval attache at Paris 



AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 299 

and St. Petersburg, studied the mobilization of the Russian army on 
the European side, and accompanied troops across the trans-Siberian 
Railway, 

All of these observers ranked as special military and naval attaches. 
They wore their fatigue uniforms and were required to leave off their 
swords, as a sign that they were non-combatants. The military observ- 
ers were lent horses by the Russian and Japanese commanders to whose 
armies they were accredited. They moved in the fields as members 
of these commanders' staffs, messed with them and occupied the same 
quarters. Technically, they were the guests of the Czar and Mikado, 
who detailed the military and naval commanders to entertain them. 

In a Delicate Position. 

For any of these observers to act the part of spy would be a breach 
of military etiquette, than which none could possibly be more serious. 
It cannot be predicted what punishment would be meted out to them,' 
but if found prying into secrets such as all fighting nations hold sacred 
— such as plans of fortifications — they would immediately become per- 
sona non grata, and their recall from the field would speedily follow. 
While viewing battles, and casually conversing with their hosts, they 
could not give advice of a military nature without transgressing the 
tenets of international law, and committing a breach of neutrality. 

In the Russo-Japanese war science played a heavier role than had 
ever been before attempted in any battle drama. Both belligerents were 
suspected at the beginning of having, somewhere hidden away, surprises 
terrible and bloody, to be sprung at the opportune moment. Our mili- 
tary and naval observers were detailed for the express purpose of 
acquainting their respective intelligence bureaus in Washington with 
the newest scientific, administrative and technical developments of the 
war. They noted all novelties in small arms, ordnance, gun-sighting, 
uniforms, tents, accoutrements, war balloons, field telegraph devices, 
signals, steering gear for ships, turrets, searchlights, torpedoes, sub- 
marine boats and what not. They reported these to Washington. It 
was, of course, understood that all of these data were to be gathered 



300 AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. 

in an open and legitimate manner. No American military or naval 
attache was ever accused of corrupting foreign officials for the purpose 
of securing government secrets. 

Not Diplomats. 

These special military and naval attaches, like the regular attaches 
accredited abroad in time of peace, were technically attached to the 
mission of our Ambassador to Russia or Minister to Japan, according 
to which army or fleet they would study. But neither Ambassador 
McCormick nor Minister Griscom were responsible for them as they 
would have been for ordinary diplomatic attaches forming a part of 
their suites. They were detailed not by the Secretary of State, but the 
Secretary of War or Navy, and they received their instructions directly 
from these departments. They were attached to the embassy at St. 
Petersburg or legation at Tokio only that they might be endowed with 
the extra-territorial and diplomatic immunities and prerogatives ex- 
tended to the staffs of all diplomatic missions abroad. They ranked 
with the first secretaries, whereas diplomatic attaches are in a grade 
below the most subordinate secretaries. 

Noted Military Attaches. 

American officers have been detailed to study all great foreign wars 
of the past century. Scott viewed the occupation of Paris by the allied 
troops and accompanied the Duke of Wellington during their review. 
McClellan and two other officers accompanied the allied armies at the 
siege of Sebastopol. Sheridan and Forsyth studied the Franco-German 
war from the German side. Our Minister to Paris endeavored to gain 
permission for Sheridan to view the French side, but the request was 
refused by the French Minister of War. It became known later, how- 
ever, that Sheridan had picked the Germans as the winners from the 
start, and that he never had intended joining the French. During the 
Russo-Turkish war Francis V. Greene (late police commissioner of 
New York) was our attache with the Russian army. Colonel Chambers 
observing on the Turkish side, while General Hazen was dispatched 



AMERICAN NONCOMBATANTS. . 301 

to Constantinople to be ready to accompany the Aiistrians in the event 
that they took a hand in the struggle. 

Prince Napoleon was the guest of the Army of the Potomac during 
our Civil War; Lord Wolseley, ex-commander-in-chief of the British 
army, traveled v^ith both the Union and Confederate forces. 

Military attaches have unusual opportunities for developing the 
friendship of foreign rulers. Sheridan was the special guest of the King 
of Prussia and became an intimate friend of Bismarck, sometimes sleep- 
ing in the same room with the latter. General Miles hobnobbed with 
practically all of the crowned heads of the Old World during his long 
tour of inspection following the Graeco-Turkish war. More recently, 
Commander William H. Beehler, our naval attache at Berlin, became 
a chum of Emperor William, who familiarly addressed the commander 
as "Bill" and affectionately rested the imperial arm on his shoulder on 
several public occasions. Commander Beehler breakfasted, lunched and 
dined with the Emperor twenty-seven times in two years. Just what 
William tried to learn from "Bill" has never yet been fathomed. But 
what Bill divulged to William was nothing worth knowing, and he left 
Berlin with the confidence of his superiors in Washington. He kept his 
head in spite of royal flattery, wherefore he "ought to have a tablet in 
the hall of fame." 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR 

Anarchy in China Feared — Secretary Hay's Note — Severance of Diplomatic Relations 
between Japan and Russia — The Daring Torpedo Attack on Port Arthur — Japanese 
Success Establishes Chinese Influence — ^Naval Conflict at Chemulpo — First Prizes of 
the War — Arrival of Japanese Troops at Seoul — Repulse of Japanese Landing Party- 
Destruction of the Boyarin. 

THE Chinese Minister in Washington, Sir Chen Tung Liang-Cheng, 
was as deeply concerned at the beginning of hostihties between 
Japan and Russia as was either the Japanese Minister, Mr. Takahira, 
or Count Cassini, the Russian Ambassador. The Chinese diplomatic 
officer in the United States feared that the war would cause a recur- 
rence of the unrest that preceded the Boxer uprising of 1900. There 
is a large element of the Chinese which does not appreciate the differ- 
ence between nationalities, and are disposed to look with equal hatred 
upon a Russian soldier or an American or English missionary, regard- 
ing all foreigners in China as her foes. 

Plans for China's Protection. 

His Excellency, the Chinese Minister, feared that the Empress 
Dowager and the entire Chinese Court would take flight and leave the 
Imperial Palace, at Pekin, as they did on August 14, 1900. With the 
court away from Pekin, China would be practically in a state of anarchy. 
Such a state of affairs would completely demoralize the whole of the' 
Chinese populace — such a condition, with no government head at Pekin, 
would close every door of communication with the powers. The United 
States, and several of the European governments, were extremely 
anxious that this menace to foreigners in China be averted and brought 
every pressure to bear, that they possibly could, to prevent the Empress 
Dowager, the Emperor and the court from leaving Pekin. 

- 302 



INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 303 

These timid and easily frightened rulers were given assurances that 
they would have every protection, but naturally Orientals, particularly 
the Chinese, are very suspicious of foreigners and their devices. When 
we consider how they have been trifled with, by several European gov- 
ernments, this is not to be wondered at. 

Secretary Hay's note to the powers was intended to bring about a 
concert so that the Pekin government would not be left without a head. 
One of the objects of that note was to induce the Empress Dowager to 
abandon her flight to the interior provinces of the empire. 

Flight of the Empress Prevented. 

Only those who have been in China can appreciate the serious results 
which may follow the flight of the Empress Dowager from the capital 
in time of war. War is the signal, and the opportunity, for disturbances 
in various parts of China which always endanger the lives and property 
of the missionaries and other foreign residents. For this reason, there 
was an earnest desire on the part of the neutral powers to prevent this 
contingency. Some, it is said, were inclined to go so far as to guarantee 
the integrity of China, but the difliculty lay in the close relations of the 
European powers, either with Russia or Japan. No doubt the neutral 
European governments were pleased when the United States took the 
initiative, as expressed in the Hay note. A guarantee of neutrality of 
China was considered, at that time, a step in the direction of preserving 
the integrity of China. The powers, with one exception, adopted the 
policy as suggested by Secretary Hay. 

It is known that the President of the United States and his cabinet 
were several days considering the proposition of this government, as 
sent out to the powers by Secretary Hay, in all its bearings, as an aid 
to helpless China. Minister Conger, our diplomatic ofHcer at Pekin, 
was of great assistance in satisfying the Chinese government that the 
court would be perfectly safe in Pekin. This, it is said, had the effect 
of quieting the Empress Dowager and her court and they decided not 
to flee from Pekin for the time being. 

While the diplomatic relations between Japan and I^ussia were, to 



304 INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 

all intents and purposes, cut off on Feb. 5th, the Japanese Minister to 
St. Petersburg, Mr. Kurino, and Baron Rosen, the Russian Minister 
to Japan, did not actually take their leave until the 7th. This made 
the severance of diplomatic relations complete. 

Attitude of the United States. 

The diplomatic affairs of Japan in Russia and the interests of the 
Mikado's subjects there were turned over to United States Ambassador 
McCormick, at St. Petersburg. The attitude of the United States in 
this v^ar was to observe complete neutrality and this policy was declared 
at the beginning of hostilities at Chemulpo and Port Arthur. 

After careful consideration, the United States Navy Department 
decided that it would make no effort to place naval attaches on either 
the Russian or Japanese fleets. There was not the least doubt on the 
part of Admiral Dewey but that the consent of both Russia and Japan 
could be obtained to send our naval observers with their fighting ships. 
Even though both governments refused this courtesy to our navy, the 
United States Government would have had no grounds for complaint. 
It will be remembered that Uncle Sam would not permit the attaches 
of foreign navies to accompany our warships during the Spanish war. 

Russian Fleet Taken by Surprise. 

On Feb. 9th and loth the press dispatches brought sensational news 
regarding the attack of the Japanese torpedo boats upon the Russian 
naval fleet anchored in the roads just outside the entrance of Port 
Arthur harbor. The attack was made by the swift Japanese torpedo 
boats during the dark night of Monday, Feb. 8th. They fairly hugged 
the coast as they approached the entrance and when in close range of 
that part of the fleet anchored just outside the entraace to the harbor 
the Japs discharged several torpedoes toward their enemy's fleet. Sev- 
eral men-of-war, including the Cesarevitch, Retvizan and Pallada, were 
disabled. The crippled fighting ships of the Czar limped toward Port 
Arthur and almost at its very entrance were beached. 



INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 305 

Influence of the Japanese Victory. 

This was a staggering blow to proud and powerful Russia. The 
news of the daring feat of the fearless Japs amazed the world. The 
dispatches descriptive of this attack were at first fragmentary and un- 
satisfactory to the outside world. But each day the intelligence kept 
coming over the cables which verified what was bad news to Russia 
and her friends and good news for the Japanese and their admirers. 
In every remote corner of the globe where newspapers are published, 
in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Dan- 
ish, Japanese and Chinese, the reports of this opening battle of the war 
was printed. The influence this news had upon the Chinese, in further 
cementing the friendship that had begun in 1900 for their former enemy, 
the Japanese, can not be overestimated. 

Russia had used the opportunity for her encroachments upon China, 
by making that country fear her. There is no doubt but that the 
Chinese rejoiced when they learned that the Japanese had punished 
Russia so severely in the first conflict of the war. If it is true that 
nothing "succeeds like success," as we look at things in America, then 
it is more than true that success and victory has a still greater influence 
over the Chinese. The Chinese, like ourselves, desire to be on the 
winning side. It is not at all unlikely that the slant eyed Orientals 
possess that characteristic in a still higher degree than Americans. It 
can be easily understood then what an influence Japan's victory at Port 
Arthur had in establishing Chinese influence at the initial battle of the 
war. 

The First Attack on Port Arthur. 

The following is a translation of a letter from the wife of a Russian 
naval officer stationed at Port Arthur : 

"At eleven o'clock on the morning of February 8 my husband came 
to me in great excitement saying I should pack up as quickly as possi- 
ble as he had heard that our local banker, G., was despatching on his 
own steamer the families of his employes and had oftered me a passage 
by the same steamer. The boat, however, was to start in three hours 



3o6 INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 

time, and as I had many arrangements to make for my little son it was 
clearly impossible that I could avail myself of his kind offer. 

Under Orders to Leave. 

"Therefore we decided that I should start for St. Petersburg by the 
express on the next evening. On going to the bureau for my tickets 
they refused to issue them, but booked my name for a seat. I was 
much hurried as my husband had to be on board his ship by five p. m., 
his ship being under orders for some expected night operations. For 
several days communication with the shore had been stopped after 
eight p. m., by which time both officers and men of the fleet were 
ordered to be on board. This was my final good-bye to my husband 
as the next morning the squadron was under orders to start for a cruise, 
though for how long was not known. ' 

Packing Up. 

"Whilst engaged in packing two of my military acquaintances passed 
by much excited; they told me that a decisive reply was expected hourly. 
That the prevailing state of uncertainty was likely soon to come to an 
end gave us all great relief, and I bade them my adieus with all good 
wishes for their advancement and success. My husband's servant came 
to tell me that the Chinese were leaving the markets and flying in all 
directions ; the Japanese likewise were hastily closing their shops and 
hurrying on board the steamers. I then returned to my packing, though 
it did not progress very quickly; indeed, the sight of so many valuable 
things scattered in all directions brought the tears to my eyes. Around 
me lay exquisite things of every description — silks, laces, curios, down 
to small models of the ships of my husband's squadron, and the thousand 
and one articles with which a sailor's wife in the Far East surrounds 
herself. Where to bestow them all I scarcely knew. An oppressive 
silence pervaded the atmosphere; the servants had all retired to rest. 
I was alone. 

The Sound of Guns. 

"Suddenly there broke on my ear the sound of volley-firing at in- 
tervals. It passed through my mind that these sounds came from the 



INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 307 

docks, where they were working by night. Such, however, was not 
the case ; there was incessant volleys, followed by the dull roar of heavy 
guns from the fortress which made the very room shake. I roused the 
servants, bidding them fetch C. He appeared almost immediately with 
the news that an engagement was taking place, the Japanese having 
actually attacked. I went out on to the balcony, and there the whole 
town seemed illuminated — now here, now there — by searchlights. The 
town itself was but little disturbed save for a small crowd which had 
collected outside the residence of the viceroy. I was panic-stricken; I 
went inside and tried to finish my packing. I could not; the very things 
slipped from my fingers. What mattered my belongings when a fight 
for life or death was raging close at hand? Enough that I could save 
my child. Thus I passed that dreadful night, but morning brought no 
relief, only the realization of our worst fears. Our great ships, the 
Cesarevitch, the Retvisan and the Pallada, had all been damaged. 

The Damaged Battleships. 

*T next heard that the time of departure of the express had been 
altered and that I must start at eleven a. m., and soon after we set out for 
the station. The town was comparatively quiet, but on the lips of all 
trembled the words, 'the Cesarevitch,' 'the Retvisan,' and again, 'the 
Cesarevitch.' The huge battleship loomed on the horizon at the en- 
trance to the harbor. Suddenly the news spread that the Japanese 
squadron had been sighted and were making for Port Arthur. As I 
left our ships were weighing anchor and a battle seemed imminent. 
With some little difficulty we made our way to the station, where the 
greatest confusion existed. The platform was literally strewn with bag- 
gage of every description. I was lucky enough owing to the kindness of 
Mr. C. to obtain a ticket, and with the rest of the crowd I pushed and 
elbowed my way to the train. Here again I fortunately secured a seat, 
the train moved off and it was good-bye to Port Arthur and to our 
husbands, who at that very moment were awaiting the Japanese attack. 
That God might preserve them was the prayer in every heart. When 
we reached our first stopping place we could hear the sound of volleys, 



3o8 INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 

and the express which overtook us later on brought the news that the 
Japanese attack had lasted forty minutes. We also learnt that not much 
damage had been done to the Cesarevitch and that both the other ships 
would shortly be fit for service again. Our journey was very tedious; 
the train dragged slowly along, stopping incessantly at small stations. 
All along the line the same confusion as at Port Arthur prevailed, and 
I had the greatest difBculty in getting even the bare necessaries of Hfe 
for my little child and myself; sometimes even a little bread was unpro- 
curable. 

On the Road to Russia. 

"On our arrival at Manchuria station all our baggage had to be 
examined. Here the custom-house officials treated us with great civil- 
ity, in marked contrast to the railway officials. After a long wait at 
the station they opened the doors of the wagons and we crowded in 
quickly, sharing the cramped accommodation with the poor children, 
many of whom were crying from exhaustion. A police official then 
appeared and roughly ordered us to get out as the signal to enter the 
carriages had not been given. We protested, and after fierce alterca- 
tion on either side we remained where we were. 

On Lake Baikal. 

"On our arrival at Baikal the weather luckily became rather less 
severe, there being no wind, which is the one thing to be dreaded as 
the cold there is almost unbearable. As we crossed over we passed 
numberless sledges packed with soldiers, whilst many were proceeding 
on foot wrapped up in their warm coats. On reaching the other side 
of the lake there was a long delay, our baggage being again examined. 
We arrived at Irkutsk at two o'clock in the morning and there found 
we had a wait of several hours. Never shall I forget the scene which 
here presented itself. The platform was so crowded with people and 
their baggage that there was no place for even the children to lie down, 
I spread out my coat on the floor of the platform intending to lay my 
little son down but found it impossible; there was only standing room. 
The little ones were dropping from fatigue and many wept bitterly. 



INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 309 

,We gave up the idea of continuing our journey by the first train and 
decided to book our tickets by the express, and sought shelter in an inn 
until the morning. We passed some few hours in Irkutsk, which 
seemed a pleasant town and not so cold as we expected. We caught 
the express the same afternoon, and the remainder of our journey pre- 
sented no difficulties. Of course we did not travel as fast as is usual 
owing to the numbers of troop and goods trains filled with every kind 
of war material which wete to be met with at nearly every station and 
siding. The soldiers seemed in great spirits, singing and jesting; all 
seemed fully confident of success and somewhat contemptuous of their 
little adversaries. Our journey was completed without further incident, 
and we reached St. Petersburg nineteen days after our departure from 
Port Arthur." 

Difficulty in Getting News. 

Closely following the news of the Japanese naval victory at Port 
Arthur came the reports of a naval conflict at Chemulpo, Korea. It 
probably will always be a question as to which battle occurred first. The 
Russians held that the war began at Port Arthur, while the Japanese 
claimed that the first shot was fired at Chemulpo. The difficulties of 
news gathering in the Far East are not well understood in our country, 
where we have every facility for obtaining and disseminating the news 
for each day, so that- the important events are known to the people 
within a few hours after they happen. The conditions in the Orient 
are different. It requires time to get across the waters to a cable line. 
After the cable is reached, there is the censor to be reckoned with and 
the message is involved in red tape, so that it requires a great deal of 
time to arrange the preliminaries for filing a news dispatch. After the 
dispatch is filed there are apt to be delays at other points. 

The Battle of Chemulpo. 

The facts, however, regarding the battle of Chemulpo are as fol- 
lows: On the 8th of February, two Russian men-of-war, the Korietz 
and Variag were lying at Chemulpo. On the afternoon of that day the 



3IO INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 

Korietz left Chemulpo for Port Arthur with the mails, but meeting a 
Japanese fleet convoying transports, and having three torpedoes fired 
at her, she returned to Chemulpo. The Japanese admiral claimed that 
the first shot was fired by the Russian ship, whereupon he ordered a 
torpedo attack. On the following morning the senior Russian com- 
mander received a letter from the Japanese admiral saying that unless 
the two ships left the port before twelve o'clock on that day the Japan- 
ese ships would go into the harbor and attack them. 

A Forlorn Hope. 

The Russians, having no alternative, left the harbor shortly before 
noon, well knowing that they were going to certain destruction. The 
crews of the foreign ships in the harbor, Talbot (English), Vicksburg 
(American), Pascal (French), and Elba (Italian) loudly cheered the 
Russian sailors as the latter left, for the courage displayed. Outside 
the harbor were fifteen ships of the Japanese fleet. These opened fire 
at long range. The Variag remained for a time unhit, but getting 
aground on a sand bank she was terribly punished. The Captain find- 
ing all hope of escape gone, determined to try to return to the harbor. 
The Variag, leaking very badly from holes on her water-line, just 
managed to reach her original anchorage, when she heeled over and 
sank. Just about this time the Korietz blew up, having been set on fire 
by her crew to save her from falling into the hands of the Japanese. 
The crews of both ships were rescued by the boats of the foreign men- 
of-war. After his ship was disabled the captain of the Variag ordered 
his officers and crew to jump overboard and save themselves if they 
could, and then blew up the ship. 

Scores of Russians Killed. 

About 200 men were killed and wounded. Many were drowned in 
the attempt to escape, a great number swam, not to the shore, but to 
the foreign men-of-war in the harbor, which promptly lowered boats 
and went to their rescue. About 150 reached the Talbot. Sir Cyprian 
Bridge, the British admiral in command of the station, ordered that the 



INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 311 

wounded Russians should not be handed over to the Japanese unless 
they so desired. 

No Japanese Loss. 

The Japanese did not lose a man. None of the fleet, which in over- 
whelming force, was damaged. The Russian steamer Sungari was also 
destroyed and sunk. Both war ships tried to escape from the port 
before dawn but eventually put back. The Korietz accepted the Japan- 
ese challenge and alone went out to fight the whole fleet. She was com- 
pletely outmatched; the Japanese broadsides raked her continually until 
she sank. Many of her crew were killed by shells or drowned, and the 
few who escaped to shore were captured. 

Prophetic Words. 

The captain of the Korietz, writing to a relative shortly before the 
battle, used these prophetic words : "I am ready to go to sea at any 
minute. From day to day we have been expecting a fight with the 
Japanese. We expect sudden attacks without a previous declaration 
of war. The wooden fittings are being taken ashore. We have no 
armor; our strength is only in the guns and the courage of our men. 
We Russians often depend on courage, and the outcome is all right. 
It may happen that it will not fail us now. I shall do all possible. If 
they send us to the bottom say a good word for us." 

A Royal Welcome. 

Upon their return to St. Petersburg the entire city turned out to do 
honor to the survivors of the warships Variag and Korietz. A crowd 
of 100,000 persons gathered at the railway station when the sailors 
arrived. After being greeted by Grand Duke Alexis and a brilliant 
staff of admirals, the herpes were escorted to the Winter Palace, where 
they were received by the czar. The reception was in the magnificent 
Nicholas Hall, which had been converted into a church. A special Te 
Deum was sung and then all the sailors remained for a banquet as the 
emperor's guests. 

The bluejackets, seated at the imperial table and waited on by the 



312 INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 

imperial servants, were overcome by the splendor of the feast. The 
emperor, escorting both the empresses, approached the sailors and said: 
"I am happy, brothers, to see you all here safely returned. Many of 
you have inscribed with your blood a record of heroic deeds in our 
annals. You have made the names of the Variag and Korietz immortal. 
I am sure you will remain worthy to the last of the crosses which have 
been bestowed on you. All Russia and I have been moved by the 
recital of your exploits at Chemulpo. I thank you, brothers, for vindi- 
cating the honor of the flag of St. Andrew, and the renown of holy 
Russia. I drink to the further victories of our glorious fleet and to your 
health, brothers." 

The emperor took a goblet of wine and drained it and all present 
followed liis example with a thunderous shout of "Hurrah !" The em- 
peror then went round the table exchanging greetings with his lowly 
guests. 

First Prizes of the War. 

The first prizes of the war were taken by Japan. They consisted 
of the capture of one steamer of the Russian volunteer fleet, the Ekate- 
rinoslav, and the steamer Argun belonging to the Trans-Siberian Rail- 
way Company. On Feb. lo, the Japanese captured four Russian whal- 
ers, the Glorige, Nicelai, Alexander, and Michael. On the same day, 
one of the principal railway bridges, over which the Manchurian Railway 
passes, was blown up by a Japanese spy. It is said that the Japanese 
had made every preparation for the destruction of the Manchurian Rail- 
way, by placing Japanese all along the railway line dressed as Chinese 
coolies. Disguised in this manner they sought work with the railway 
company and were in a position to strike blows for the destruction of 
the railway, thus delaying the recruiting of the Russian army. 

Japanese Arrive at Seoul. 

On Febrtiary ii, the dispatches announced that the Japanese troops 
had arrived at Seoul, the capital of Korea, and that their influence and 
power predominated there. Along with this war news came reports 
that the Russians were massacring innocent Chinese in different sec- 



INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 313 

tions of Manchuria and looting at Vladivostok. On account of the mas- 
sacre of 100 Chinese at Liaoyang, the Chinese officials at Shan-Hai- 
Kwan became alarmed, lest there might be a general uprising among 
the Chinese, caused by this practical state of anarchy. 

They made frequent appeals to the Chinese Government at Pekin 
for protection, but of course China, as usual, was unable to give her 
subjects the protection they asked for and needed. This state of afifairs 
tended to keep the Empress Dov^ager in a state of unrest and alarm 
and it required the combined efforts of the American Minister, the Am- 
bassador from England and the other foreign diplomats there to keep 
the court from taking flight to the interior. 

Russian Officers at a Circus. 

One of the most surprising things to the outside world in connection 
with the Japanese attack upon the Russian warships at Port Arthur, 
was the announcement which was made to appear as an excuse for the 
Russians, that they were attending a circus at Port Arthur when the 
attack upon their fleet took place. The circus, it is said, began on 
Monday night and did not terminate until early Tuesday morning. It 
seems remarkable that naval officers and men would be off duty when 
they well knew that a state of war had existed between their country 
and Japan for three days, at least. 

On Sunday, Feb. 14, it was announced that the Japanese had at- 
tempted to land forces near Port Arthur; and were repulsed, several 
hundred of them being sabered by Cossacks. The Japanese followed 
this up with an attempt to land 12,000 troops at Dove Bay. On the 
following day the news reached this country that the Japanese had 
blown up the Russian cruiser Boyarin and that her entire crew were lost. 

Russian Festivities Abandoned. 

On February 15, the carnival week began, usually the gayest of the 
year in Russia, but, under the shadow of the war, the merry-making 
amounted to only an imitation of that of former years. In St. Petersburg 
all the festivities, including balls, public and private social functions 
and fa3hipnable weddings, planned months in advance, were abandoned. 



314 INITIAL STAGES OF THE WAR. 

Everybody in Russia was thinking of the war and the future of the 
Empire. The rush of the crowds to buy extra editions of the news- 
papers, the intense activity at the War and Marine Ministries and the 
crowds about the Admiralty, anxiously inquiring about the fate of rela- 
tives, were grim reminders of what the thoughts of the unhappy people 
were. 

Instead of the customary festivities, the theatres gave double per- 
formances for the benefit of the Red Cross, and the Artist's Ball, one 
of the biggest events of the social season, which it was intended to 
abandon, was held in a hall decorated to represent the feast day of 
Benares, the artists being attired in the costumes of the Hindoos. 

Gloom in Russia and Joy in Japan. 

The gloom that was cast over the people of Russia at the beginning 
of hostilities with Japan, was in striking contrast to the high spirits 
and pride of the Japanese at the victories they won in the beginning. 
Everywhere in the cities and villages of the Mikado's land his subjects 
were singing the patriotic airs of Nippon. The people on the streets 
and the country by-ways were congratulating each other over the vic- 
tories of the first week of the war and the object lesson they presented 
to the outside world and the incentive furnished to all patriotic Japanese. 

On February 17 it was learned that Japan had succeeded in concen- 
trating a big army for a land attack on Russia in Korea and Manchuria. 
At the same time from an authoritative source came the report that 
Japan would send 250,000 troops into both countries and if necessary 
follow up this number with as many more. The serious reverses which 
befell the Russian fleet at Port Arthur led to the recall of its com- 
mander, Vice-Admiral Stark and the appointment of Admiral Makaroff, 
one of the most distinguished officers in the service of the Czar. This 
event was followed by the departure of General Kouropatkin to take 
command of the Russian army in the Far East. These two appoint- 
ments had the result of shearing most of the powers from Viceroy 
AlexiefT, who up to that time had practically been in command of the 
Russian land and sea forces. He tendered his resignation to the Czar 
but the latter refused to accept it. 



' CHAPTER XXV. 
THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR 

The Fourth Assault — Wireless Telegraphy Used by Japanese — Thrilling Torpedo Duel — 
Bottling up the Russian Fleet — The Japanese Send in Fire Ships — The Fifth Attack — 
Hirose, the Hero — Description of the Beleagured City — Vivid Account of the Bom- 
bardment by a Russian Officer. 

NUMEROUS minor assaults on Port Arthur occurred during the 
month of February, but Admiral Togo's fourth attack on March 
lo was the most effective since the first assault of a month before. One 
Russian torpedo boat destroyer was sunk and several seriously dam- 
aged. The fortifications and city were subjected to a heavy bombard- 
ment lasting nearly four hours. The naval bombardments of the land 
works were generally effective, yet the peculiar topographical condi- 
tions of Port Arthur were such that serious loss of life from sea attacks 
were seemingly impossible. 

The Harbor Bombarded. 

Admiral Togo's torpedo flotilla opened the action by boldly steam- 
ing in under the batteries and successfully placing a number of 
mechanical mines at the mouth of the harbor. Following that there 
was a desperate bow to bow encounter between the torpedo boat de- 
stroyers, in which the Japanese scored a clear victory. Then followed 
a long-range duel between the cruisers, ending in the retirement of the 
Novik and Bayan, the only Russians engaged. 

The closing action was the bombardment of the inner harbor by the 
Japanese battleships. The latter took a position southwest of Port 
Arthur and used only their 12-inch guns. There were twenty-four 
12-inch guns in the squadron of six battleships, and each gun fired five 
rounds, making a total of 120 huge projectiles that were fired at the 
city. The bombardment was deliberate and carefully planned. 

315- 



3i6 THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 

In order to aid in perfecting the firing Admiral Togo stationed the 
cruisers in a position due east of the entrance to the harbor and at a 
right angle to the battleships. The cruisers observed the range and 
effect of the firing and signaled the results and suggestions by wireless 
telegraphy. These observations and reports greatly aided the gunners 
in their effort to make every shot count. 

Admiral Togo was unable to learn definitely the results of the bom- 
bardment, but later private reports indicated that much destruction 
was caused in the city, where a series of fires broke out. There also was 
damage to batteries. 

A Japanese Hero. 

Captain Shokiro Asai, commanding the flotilla of torpedo boat de- 
stroyers which engaged the Russian destroyers, was the hero of the 
attack. He had only three destroyers, but attacked the six Russian 
destroyers, ordering his craft to close in with the enemy. He steamed 
so close to the enemy's destroyers that they almost touched, and a most 
desperate conflict ensued, from which the Russians retired badly 
disabled. 

Engineer Minamisawa of the destroyer Kasumi received a small 
wound. Minamisawa participated in the first torpedo attack on Port 
Arthur, also in the attempt to bottle up the harbor by sinking commer- 
cial steamers. He was commended both times for his gallantry. 

Object of the Attack. 

The Japanese flotilla which sunk the mines at the mouth of the har- 
bor later engaged two Russian destroyers. This flotilla was commanded 
by Commander Tsuchiya. 

Admiral Togo's object in sending cruisers to Talienwan Bay was to 
encompass the destruction of a signal station mine depot at Samshantao, 
This object was achieved and the buildings were demolished. 

Rear Admirals Dewa and Uriu participated in the operations under 
Admiral Togo, and when the details of the operations became known 
in Japan the news created intense enthusiasm. 



THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 317 

Admiral Togo's Report. 

Admiral Togo's report of the assault was as follows: 
"Our squadron, as prearranged, attacked the enemy at Port Arthur 
on March 10. Our two torpedo flotillas reached the mouth of the har- 
bor at Port Arthur at i o'clock on the morning of the loth. Finding 
no enemy and waiting until dawn, one flotilla engaged in sinking special 
mines in the harbor entrance. Notwithstanding the enemy's fire our 
flotilla succeeded in sinking the mines. The other flotilla met the ene- 
my's torpedo flotilla, consisting of six boats, in the Lao Thie Shan chan- 
nel south of Port Arthur, at 4:30 o'clock. A hot engagement occurred at 
close range for thirty ininutes. The enemy then took flight, 

"Our fire greatly damaged the Russian ships, one of which was badly 
crippled by a shot through the boilers, and another was observed to be 
on fire. So close were the two flotillas to each other than our destroy- 
ers, the Asashio, Kasumi and Akatsuki, nearly touched the enemy's 
ships and our crews even could hear the cries of agony of the injured 
men on them. 

Japanese Sustain Loss. 

"We sustained some damage and loss. The Akatsuki had a steam 
pipe broken and four stokers were killed thereby. Our loss was seven 
killed .and eight wounded. Among the latter is Chief Engineer Mina- 
misawa of the Kasumi. 

"Our other flotilla, while leaving the harbor entrance, observed two 
Russian torpedo boats coming from seaward and immediately engaged 
them, the battle lasting one hour. After causing them severe damage 
one of them effected its escape, but our destroyer, the Sasanami, cap- 
tured the other boat, which proved to be the Stereguschtchi. 

"Notwithstanding the land batteries pouring a heavy fire on our 
flotilla, the captured vessel was taken in tow. Owing to the high sea 
the tow line soon parted and the Sasanami found it necessary to take 
the crew from the Russian boat and abandoned the Stereguschtchi, 
which finally sank at 10:30 o'clock. 

"The enemy's cruisers, the Novik and the Bayan, steamed out the 



3i8 THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 

entrance of the harbor toward us, but, observing the approach of our 
cruiser squadron, retired to the harbor. Our flotilla suffered some 
damage, but not heavy. The Sasanami and the Akatsuki had two sail- 
ors killed and Sublieutenant Shima of the Akatsuki and three sailors 
were wounded. 

*'Our main and cruiser squadrons arrived off Port Arthur at 8 o'clock, 
and the cruisers immediately advanced toward the harbor entrance to 
protect the torpedo flotilla. The main squadron advanced near Lao- 
Thie-Shan and opened an indirect cannonade against the inner harbor 
from lo o'clock to 1 140. 

Bombardment is Effective. 

"According to the observations made by one of our cruisers facing 
the entrance, the bombardment was remarkably effective. During our 
cannonade, the enemy's land batteries fired, but none of our ships suf- 
fered any damage. 

"Another cruiser squadron went to Tahenwan and bombarded the 
enemy's fortress on Samshantao, damaging the buildings there. The 
cruisers Takasago and Chihaya, reconnoitered the west coast of the 
Port Arthur peninsula, but did not find the enemy. 

"The Russian torpedo boat destroyer, damaged in the third attack 
on Port Arthur, was found to be the Wnushiterinuy, which had been 
completely sunk, the mast only being visible above the water. Our 
squadron stopped fighting at 2 o'clock and returned to the rendezvous." 

The official reports placed the Japanese loss at nine killed, five seri- 
ously wounded and seventeen slightly hurt. The Japanese fleet was 
not damaged in the fighting. 

Viceroy Alexieff's Report. 

The following is the Russian Viceroy's report of the engagement : 
"Admiral Makaroff, commanding the fleet, reported from Port 

Arthur under date of March 10 as follows : 

" 'Six torpedo boats, which went out to sea the night of March 10, 

four of them being under the command of Captain Mattoussevitch, en- 



THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 319 

countered the enemy's torpedo boats followed by cruisers. On the way 
back the torpedo-boat destroyer Stereguschtchi, commanded by Lieu- 
tenant Sergueieff, sustained damages; her engine was disabled and she 
began to founder. 

" 'By 8 o'clock in the morning five of our torpedo-boat destroyers 
had returned. When the critical position of the Stereguschtchi became 
evident I hoisted my flag on the cruiser Novik and went with the Novik 
and the cruiser Bayan to the rescue. But as five of the enemy's cruisers 
surrounded our destroyer, and as their battleship squadron was ap- 
proaching, I did not succeed in saving the Stereguschtchi, which found- 
ered. Part of the crew was made prisoner and part was drowned. 

" 'On the ships which participated in the night attack one ofificer 
was seriously and three others were slightly wounded, two soldiers were 
killed, and eighteen were wounded.' " 

Bottling Up the Russian Fleet. 

On February 24, the Japanese attempted to bottle up the Russian 
fleet in Port Arthur by sinking stone-laden vessels at the entrance to 
the harbor, employing the tactics which were considered, but not exe- 
cuted, by Admiral Sampson, U. S. N., with the Merrimac, at Santiago, 
during the Spanish-American war. According to the first account 
Japanese ships appeared off the harbor with a Japanese fleet behind 
them and ostensibly in pursuit. The Russians, however, suspected a 
ruse and their ships sank the stone-laden vessels, engaged and defeated 
the enemy and drove them off. 

On the night of March 22 the Japanese fleet renewed the attempt to 
bottle up Port Arthur. Sixteen warships escorted seven merchant 
steamers to the mouth of the harbor and under cover of the bombard- 
ment the steamers ran in and were sunk. Three thousand Japanese 
officers and blue jackets volunteered for this duty. During the day the 
Japanese fleet had made its fifth attack on Port Arthur. 

Japanese Fleet Unharmed. 

Vice Admiral Togo's report of the event was as follows : 

"The combined fleet acted according to the plan arranged. Two 



320 THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 

flotillas of destroyers were outside Port Arthur, as instructed, from the 
night of the 21st until the morning of the 22d. Although during this 
time our destroyers were under the fire of the enemy, they sustained 
no damage. The main fleet arrived off Port Arthur at 8 o'clock on the 
morning of the 22d. 

"I dispatched a part of the fleet in the direction of Pigeon Bay, and 
ordered the battleships Fuji and Yashima to make an indirect bombard- 
ment against the inner side of the port. During the bombardment the 
enemy's ships gradually came out of the harbor, and at the time when 
the indirect bombardment stopped, which was about 2 o'clock, the 
number of Russian ships was five battleships, four cruisers and several 
destroyers. We believed the enemy was trying, by making a move- 
ment of the fleet, to draw us near the forts. The enemy's ships shelled 
us indirectly, and many of their shots fell near the battleship Fuji, but 
our ships sustained no damage. About 3 o'clock our vessels withdrew 
off the port." 

Another Daring Attempt Fails. 

Under cover of darkness on the morning of March 2.^, Vice-Admiral 
Togo made another desperate attempt to bottle up the Russian fleet in 
Port Arthur, but failed again, and when after daylight Vice Admiral 
Makaroff steamed out to give battle the Japanese commander refused 
the challenge and sailed away. 

The Japanese practically repeated the tactics of Feb. 24 by sending 
in four fire ships, preceded by a torpedo boat flotilla, with the exception 
that the fire ships this time were armed with Hotchkiss guns for the 
purpose of keeping off the Russian torpedo boat destroyers. 

The enemy's attempt was discovered by means of the shore search- 
lights, and a heavy fire was opened from the batteries and from two gun- 
boats which were guarding the entrance to the harbor. The Russian 
torpedo boat destroyer Silni was outside on scouting duty, and to the 
dash and nerve of her commander, Lieutenant Krinizki, is chiefly due 
the complete defeat of the plans of the Japanese. 



THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 321 

Under Fierce Fire. 

He at once made straight for the oncoming ships under a hail of fire 
from the Hotchkiss guns, and torpedoed the leading ship, which sheered 
off, followed by the others, three of them being piled up on the shore 
under Golden Hill and one under the lighthouse. The Silni then en- 
gaged the entire six torpedo boats of the enemy, coming out from a 
terrific fight with seven killed and her commander and twelve of her 
complement wounded, but on the Japanese side only one boat's crew 
was saved. 

The Japanese cruisers which supported the attack exchanged shots 
with the batteries, and then drew off, after which Vice Admiral Makaroff 
took a steam launch and examined the fire ships. An hour later the 
Japanese torpedo flotilla, followed by Vice Admiral Togo's fleet, came 
up from a southerly direction. Just at daybreak Vice Admiral Makaroff, 
with his fleet, sailed out to engage the enemy, but after the ships and 
batteries had fired a few long distance shots Vice Admiral Togo decided 
to decline the issue and disappeared to the southward. 

Joy in Russia. 

The news orf the repulse of Vice Admiral Togo's attempt to block 
Port Arthur created much rejoicing in the Russian capital, and among 
all classes the gallantry of the Silni and her commander was the subject 
of high praise ; but above all the moral effect of Vice Admiral Makaroff's 
willingness to engage the enemy, showing that he considered himself 
strong enough to fight, produced a splendid impression. 

Honors to a Hero. 

The Japanese naval hero of the war, in the popular mind, was Com- 
mander Takaso Hirose, who lost his life when Admiral Togo made the 
above attempt to bottle up the harbor of Port Arthur. The Japanese 
greatly appreciated the act of the Russian authorities at Port Arthur 
in giving a military funeral to the remains of an unknown officer recov- 
ered by them after that attack, but which from the description of the 
uniform worn was considered unquestionably to be those of Hirose. A 



^22 THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 

fragment of his body was found by the Japanese and was brought to 
Tokio where it was given a pubHc funeral with high honors, according 
to the Shinto ceremonial on April 13. 

On May i, Admiral Togo made another attempt to bottle up Port 
Arthur by sending in eight fire ships. The harbor was, for the time 
being, sealed, permitting the egress of only the smaller torpedo boats. 
This temporary sealing of the channel, however, prevented the egress 
of the Russian ships and enabled the Japanese to dispatch a number 
of troop-laden transports without fear of molestation. The parting 
between the Admiral and the heroic volunteers for the venture was 
most affecting, the former realizing that he was sending his men to 
almost certain death. 

After the Battle. 

A correspondent who visited Port Arthur shortly after one of the 
bombardments wrote the following graphic description of the be- 
leaguered city: 

"Despite the various assaults the external aspect of Port Arthur 
remains unchanged, although the enemy fired an enormous number of 
projectiles. The marine monsters in the harbor look like enermous 
black hulls and the battleships and cruisers bear marks of the fighting. 
The black clouds 'of smoke vomited from their stacks overhang the 
town. The cruiser Pallada stands almost ready in the dock. 

"Near the entrance of the harbor can be seen the charred wrecks of 
the Japanese fire ships. Aboard one of the farthest out was found the 
body of a Japanese officer who had shot himself. Beside him lay a chart 
showing the course of the fire ships and the spot where they sank. 

"Six hours of firing by the heaviest guns during the last bombard- 
ment did not demolish a single building, but cost a few lives. The hus- 
band and child of the Baroness Frank, who was decapitated by fragments 
of a shell flying in through the window, were unharmed. 

Fire is Ineffective. 

"The enemy in endeavoring to stand as far as possible outside the 
range of the Russian batteries rendered their own fire ineffective. The 



THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 323 

people are getting used to the bombardments and the Japanese squadron 
cruising in the offing causes little alarm. Occupations are resuming 
their wonted course and many stores have been reopened. 

"Not a few women heroically refuse to leave Port Arthur, regardless 
of the tragic death of Baroness Frank. During the height of the can- 
nonading one woman, armed with dressings for wounds, wandered the 
streets, ready to afford aid to the wounded. 

"A branch of the Russo-Chinese Bank is doing business, and many 
wives of the officers and soldiers are returning as Sisters of Mercy. The 
land defenses are being strengthened every day, and the troops are eager 
to fight. The gayety and good spirits of the troops are surprising. 

Fighters at Close Range. 

"During the engagement between the Russian and the Japanese 
torpedo boat destroyers the boats came into very close quarters, being 
within only a few fathoms' length of each other. A torpedo from the 
Russian destroyer Vlastini tore off the stern of one of the enemy's 
destroyers, her captain standing on the bridge as she sank amid wild 
cries. 

"Port Arthur is exceedingly gloomy at night, all lights being out. 
Pickets patrol the street, stopping all pedestrians. Three Chunchuses 
(Chinese bandits) a few days ago attacked a house in the center of the 
town. The master of the house killed two of the Chunchuses, and a 
third was killed by the officers." 

Thrilling Description by an Eye- Witness. 

A Russian officer commanding a battery on Electric Hill during a 
bombardment of Port Arthur, contributed the following vivid account: 

"It was a clear sunlit day and there was a gentle swell on the water. 
A little spot appeared through the haze on the far horizon and then 
another and another, until these spots were increased to fifteen. Nearer 
and nearer they came, and larger and larger they appeared, until, when 
six miles off, there was a tiny puff of smoke, and all in the battery 
wondered where the projectile was going to fall. , 



324 THE ATTACKS ON PORT ARTHUR. 

'Torty fathoms below the diff where we were lay the battleship 
Peresviet. Bang! A shell burst under her bows, splashing the decks 
with spray. There was another puff and a projectile whistled overhead, 
crashing on the rock behind us. Then came a third. It was a moment 
of terrible suspense. There was a terrific explosion overhead. They 
had got our range exactly. 

"It was the signal for us to open fire, and ten batteries and twelve 
warships joined in the reply. What followed is almost indescribable. 
The sea underneath where we stood fairly boiled with the swish and 
plunge of projectiles, and words of command were inaudible to the gun- 
ners. I tried vainly to shout my orders while 150 guns were belching 
in a prolonged roar and shells were bursting overhead with a hellish 
crash. The smoke and dust blinded us. 

No Death Terrors. 

"I did not experience excitement, and only that my tooth began to 
ache, there was a strange sensation of contentment amidst the scenes 
of death, which had no terrors after the first shell had exploded. Sud- 
denly a white-faced gunner pointed to a battery of quick-firing guns 
half-way down the hill, which had been placed there to prevent a Japan- 
ese landing. I ran down and found the scene one of the wildest. There 
was a battle orgy of bursting shells and whistling fragments, the smoke 
stench reeking the earth. 

"One shell had burst among the gunners. A soldier was lying disem- 
boweled and another had his skull crushed. A third soldier was deliri- 
ous, and there were splinters in his head. One gun had been broken 
like a reed. It was a dreadful sight, with blood everywhere. 

"After the battle was over Lieutenant General Stoessel, commander 
at Port Arthur, pinned the cross of St. George on my breast. But what 
does it matter — I am in the hospital." 



CHAPTER XXVI. 
DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK 

The Assassin of the Sea — A Five Million Dollar Boat and Eight Hundred Men Lost — 
Miraculous Escape of Grand Duke Cyril — ^Description of the Petropavlovsk — Admiral 
Makarofi: — How a Submarine fights — Enticed into a Trap — An Eye Witness Describes 
the Disaster — Russian Torpedo Boats Sink a Japanese Transport — ^Loss of the Yos- 
hino and Hatsuse. 

ON THE morning of April 13, a few Japanese were seen approach- 
ing Port Arthur. Seeing that he did not have a superior force to 
engage, Admiral Makaroff signaled all the ships of his fleet to follow 
him to sea and went out to do battle. Before the Japanese fleet was 
reached, re-enforcements for Admiral Togo appeared on the horizon, 
swelling the attacking force to thirty ships, big and little. There was 
no chance for the Russian fleet to win against such odds, and Makaroff 
signaled a retreat. 

No Chance to Escape. 

The squadron was entering the roadstead when the Petropavlovsk 
either touched a mine or was struck by a torpedo shot from a submarine 
boat. A huge hole was blown in the starboard side of the ship, near the 
middle, and she immediately turned turtle and sank bottom up in a few 
minutes. The crew was at the fighting stations, and the Russians, 
penned up below the decks and in the turrets, had no chance to escape, 
for the disaster was over in a minute. 

Immediately after the explosion the sailors were signaled to flood 
some of the compartments on the port side to throw the ship on an 
even keel, but they had no time even to begin this work. It is believed 
that Admiral Makaroff was in the conning tower, from which there 
was no chance of escape. With the Grand Duke Cyril on the bridge 
of the ship, were Captain N. Jakovleff and two other officers, and all 

325 



326 DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 

were saved. It was claimed by many that a submarine torpedo boat 
struck the blow that sank the Russian flagship, that unseen and unsus- 
pected, the "assassin of the sea" crept up under the ironclad and stabbed 
it in its vitals. In two and one-half minutes a $5,000,000 armored 
vessel, the most powerful sea-fighter in the Czar's navy, lay in scrap- 
iron at the bottom of the sea, with the commander-in-chief and his staff 
and 800 men wiped out. 

New Art of Marine Warfare. 

In every possible way Japan guarded the secret of her new naval 
weapon and Admiral Togo, in his report of the engagement, was careful 
to explain that the battleship struck a Japanese mine which had been 
planted during the previous evening. It was known, however, that 
three years ago the Japanese bought plans for submarine torpedo boats 
from an American firm. Inside a walled enclosure near Sasebo the 
Japanese built and tested three submarines similar in design to the 
United States submarine Fulton. Newspaper correspondents were for- 
bidden to follow the fleet, and the usual courtesy of welcoming naval 
officers of neutral nations as guests on board the ships was declined by 
Japan. 

According to a well known authority, Japan, the youngest of all 
naval powers, achieved the distinction of making a practical demonstra- 
tion of the new art of marine warfare before the eyes of the world. 
Heretofore the submarine had been a theoretical weapon ; Japan proved 
its effectiveness. A moment's study of the disaster to the Petropavlovsk 
settles beyond question the fact that great fighting ships are helpless 
and worthless in the presence of this new and overwhelming weapon 
of war. 

Hidden under thirty feet of water, the Japanese submarine crept 
up to the Russian ironclad and detonated two hundred pounds of gun- 
cotton squarely under the engine rooms of the Petropavlovsk. The 
explosion of the torpedo tore through the armored underside, letting a 
flood of cold sea water in upon the red-hot boilers. Instantly the boilers 
burst, splitting the battleship into halves. A vast column of steam and 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 327 

water shot two hundred feet into the air, and through this rose even 
higher the whirling fragments of boilers, engines, guns and crew from 
the gutted midship section of the vessel. 

A Miraculous Escape. 

A tongue of flame swept aft through the ship and penetrated the 
powder magazine under the rear gun turret. As the after half of the 
flagship settled in the water this magazine exploded, splitting off the 
ship's stern and tearing into fragments the commanding officer's cabin, 
where sat Admiral MakarofT, with his staff assembled about him in 
counsel. 

A moment later the forward half of the battleship had sunk. But a 
muffled roar, a cloud of smoke and steam and a seething mass of bub- 
bling suds on the surface of the sea made it plain that one of the forward 
powder magazines had feebly exploded in the sunken wreck. 

By a miracle, Grand Duke Cyril, the heir to the Russian throne, 
escaped. Standing on the captain's bridge with his back to the heavily 
armored conning tower, he was partly sheltered from the explosion 
of the boiler behind him. The concussion threw him off his feet, and as 
the ship heeled over to port the Grand Duke rolled to the edge of the 
bridge and over, falling to the deck below. Before he could regain his 
feet the gun-deck, on which he had tumbled, was awash as the ship 
careened still further to port. At this instant the turret magazine in 
the severed after-half of the ship blew up, and the resultant towering 
wave which swept in every direction picked up Cyril and bore him a 
hundred feet away from the wreck. On the crest of this same wave 
traveled a broken portion of the Admiral's steam launch, which had 
been torn from the davits. Fortunately this proved to be the bow 
section of the launch, which is an air-tight compartment — a veritable life 
preserver. To this the Grand Duke Cyril clung until he was saved. 

Nobody will even know exactly how many were lost on the flagship. 
Of something more than 850 souls only 51 officers and men escaped. 
Most of the men were at their stations throughout the ship, and were 
stunned by the explosions and drowned a moment later. Two minutes 



328 DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 

and a half after the guncotton torpedo blew the bottom out of the boiler 
rooms the ship had disappeared in the sea. 

Battleship at Mercy of Submarine. 

The modern battleship, heavily armored against shells and solid 
shot, and equipped with chain nets to keep off surface torpedoes, has no 
protection against a submarine boat. 

Indeed, in a fight between an ii,ooo ton battleship costing over five 
millions of dollars and carrying a fighting force of 850 men and a tiny, 
fragile submarine boat of 75 tons, with a complement of only five men, 
the battleship is completely at the mervy of its diminutive opponent. 
The cruel, pitiless inequality of such an encounter is, to say the very 
least, marvellous, especially when the frightful, appalling and almost 
inevitable result is taken into consideration. 

The Petropavlovsk cost 34 times as much, weighed 147 times as 
much and carried 170 times as many men as the Japanese water rat. 
And yet, in spite of all its apparent disadvantages, the submarine craft 
had the big Russian battleship at its mercy from the moment the Petra- 
pavlovsk emerged from the harbor at Port Arthur, enticed on, in fact, 
by the other Japanese war vessels, which were merely the bait used for 
drawing the enemy into the submarine trap. 

Disemboweled the Ship. 

The first ofificial explanation — that the battleship was accidentally 
sunk by collision with one of the mines planted in the channel by the 
Russians themselves — did not survive the first wave of horror caused 
by the disaster. Just as soon as the exact nature and extent of the ex- 
plosion were made known naval experts declared that it would have 
been impossible to have disemboweled the ship with a contact mine. 
They said a submarine torpedo boat must have attacked the Petropav- 
lovsk, creeping up close to the enemy and accurately discharging a 
Whitehead torpedo against the ship's most vital part. 

The first official Russian verification of this belief came from the 
Grand Duke Vladimir at St. Petersburg two days after the loss of the 
battleship. He said: 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 329 

"We knew that the Japanese had two submarines, but we did not 
suppose them rash enough to send submarines such a distance from the 
fleet or allow them to venture as far as the entrance of the channel of 
Port Arthur. The submarine which did so must certainly have sunk." 

Since then it has been very positively stated by an American naval 
officer, whose name, for diplomatic and other reasons, has not been 
divulged, that Japan had four submarine torpedo boats of the Holland 
type when the war broke out. One of these he actually saw in course 
of construction in a shipbuilding enclosure near Sasebo. The other 
three were completed and in commission ready for active service. 

Boat Reduced to Scrap Iron. 

Admiral Togo claimed for his squadron the credit of sinking the 
battleship by counter-mining, leaving it for the Russians to confirm the 
belief that Japan was using submarines. 

It may seem almost incredible that a powerful first-class battleship 
on which five millions of dollars had been expendeH could be over- 
powered by a comparatively insignificant antagonist. The fate of the 
Petropavlovsk, however, furnished the navies of the whole world with a 
striking proof of the futility of matching armor-plated monsters against 
the newest and most deadly of all fighting craft — the submerged tor- 
pedo boat, which can approach unseen and strike unawares wherever it 
pleases and at the most unexpected moment. 

Although the Petropavlovsk was launched at St. Petersburg in 1894, 
ten years ago, she was not put into commission until 1898. The inter- 
vening four years were spent in testing various types of guns for her, 
improving her armament generally and fitting her with the most com- 
plete coat of armor plate that could be turned out. 

Resembled the Indiana. 

The Petropavlovsk was constructed at the New Admiralty Yard at 
St. Petersburg. She had a displacement of 11,500 tons, and was 
equipped with English engines of it, 600 horse-power. She was 367 
feet long and had a beam of 69 feet. In size and general appearance 
she resembled somewhat the American battleship Indiana. 



330 DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 

She was provided with an armored belt over fifteen inches in thick- 
ness, and a protective deck three and a half inches thick. Her two prin- 
cipal turrets were covered with ten-inch Harveyized steel plating, her 
four secondary turrets and her casemates being of three-inch armor. 

Her armament was very formidable, consisting of four 12-inch can- 
non mounted in pairs, fore and abaft her upperstructure, and twelve 5.9- 
inch quick-firing guns, eight of which were placed in pairs in her second- 
ary turrets, the remaining four being in casemates recessed on her main 
deck amidships. Besides all these, she carried no fewer than thirty- 
eight small rapid-fire and machine guns, in addition to six torpedo tubes. 
On her trial trip, under natural draught, she realized a speed of over 
seventeen knots an hour during a twelve-hour run. 

Immediately upon hearing of the disaster to the Petropavlovsk, the 
Czar appointed Vice-Admiral SkrydlofT, known as the "Bulldog of the 
Russian Navy," to the command of the Port Arthur squadron. 

A Strange Fatality. 

Admiral Makarofif's death was really a greater loss than would be 
that of several battleships. He was the pride of the navy and enjoyed 
the implicit confidence of his sovereign as well as of the officers and 
men of the service. Speaking of his death naval officers remarked upon 
the strange fatality that he should lose his life on a heavily armored 
battleship, to which he had a particular aversion. The morning of his 
death he raised his flag for the first time on a battleship. Previously he 
had gone out on board the cruiser Novik or the cruiser Askold. It was 
at the urgent request of his friends that he did not risk his life in this 
fashion and transferred his flag to the Petropavlovsk. 

It was an open secret that Admiral Makaroff was not anxious to 
resign his commond of Cronstadt to go to the far East, this necessitat- 
ing his leaving his wife and family, but the emperor held such a high 
opinion of him that he declined to consider other candidates, although 
it was pointed out that Rear Admiral Rojestvensky, chief of the general 
staff of the navy, who was appointed to command the Baltic squadron, 
as well as others, were anxious to distinguish themselves. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 331 

Forced to Command. 

The emperor in his summons to Admiral Makaroff said: 
"My choice has fallen upon you and I will not take a refusal." 
So the admiral went to the far East. The emperor's sorrow was 
doubly keen on this account. By imperial command a requiem service 
was celebrated at the admiralty church in St. Petersburg for the em- 
peror's favorite admiral. 

The grief-stricken widow, according to the Russian custom, had a 
requiem service celebrated at her residence. She had been much wor- 
ried over the health of her husband, who suffered from diabetes, refer- 
ence to which was made in a telegram from the admiral, in which he 
said he was compelled to disobey orders as to taking regular sleep. 

The admiral's death was also mourned by his daughter Lillie, a beau- 
tiful girl of 19, who was the belle of Cronstadt. Both mother and daugh- 
ter attended the requiem service at the admiralty church. 

The coincidence was generally commented upon that the ice breaker 
Ermak, one of Admiral Makaroff's greatest triumphs, steamed majestic- 
ally up the Neva on the day the Petropavlovsk went down, having cut 
through the ice from Cronstadt, her enormous black hull dwarfing the 
war ships moored alongside. 

Anxious to Win His Spurs. 

There is a romantic story connected with Grand Duke Cyril's anxiety 
to go to the front. He wanted to win his spurs and then marry the 
woman with whom he is very much in love. The match was opposed 
by his parents. It was an open secret that the grand duke's lady love 
was his cousin, the divorced wife of the Grand Duke of Hesse and 
daughter of the late Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who married a 
sister of Alexander III. 

How the Deadly Submarine Fights. 

The average type of the submarine boat is a steel shell fifty-four feet 

long, and pointed at the ends, and ten and a half feet wide. Within 

.the comparatively small space inside is stowed away twenty tons of 



33-2 DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 

machinery and fittings. This apparatus consists of a fifty-horse power 
gasoHne engine, which runs the propeller when the boat is on the sur- 
face of the water. The engine also charges the storage batteries with 
electricity. This electrical power is drawn upon to propel the boat be- 
low the water's surface when the gasoline engine could not be operated, 
as it would vitiate the air inside the vessel. 

In the bow of the boat are her means of offensive warfare. The 
most important is a torpedo tube pointing straight ahead on a line with 
her keel. This is for discharging torpedoes under water at hostile ships. 
There is another torpedo tube in the bow pointing upward at an angle 
of about twenty degrees, which is used for firing aerial torpedoes. 
Through this tube torpedoes can be hurled through the air for a dis- 
tance of one mile or more, and it is useful wheri the vessel takes part 
in a concerted attack upon a battleship or fortification. 

Can See Without Being Seen. 

The boat is made to dive under the surface by opening the air cham- 
bers in the lower part of the hull and filling them with water, and at 
the same time directing the vessel's course downward by means of hori- 
zontal rudders, or planes, on either side. Nine tons of water are suffi- 
cient to sink the boat to a depth of five feet below the surface. Still 
more water ballast can be taken in to cause her to sink to the depth of 
140 feet. When the torpedo boat's commander wishes to come to the 
surface again he simply gives an order, a valve is turned and the water 
is forced out of the ballast tanks, leaving a vacuum which quickly 
changes the specific gravity of the submarine, making it lighter than the 
water and causing it to rise. 

The boat is capable of making a speed of ten knots an hour when 
sailing "awash." That means with all but the boat's conning tower 
under water. When the conning tower, too, is submerged, and the boat 
settles to a depth of about thirty feet below the level of the water, she is 
still capable of maintaining a speed of six or eight knots an hour. 

The tremendous advantage the submarine has over all other kinds 
of fighting ships is that it can always see without being seen. The sub- 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. ss3 

marine can sink completely out of sight and in that way either creep up 
until it is within striking distance, or wait for the enemy's approach. 

There is no "chug-chug" of the engines to warn the enemy, because 
when submerged the torpedo boat derives its propelling power from 
storage batteries. 

Nothing is visible above the surface of the water but a slender 
tube which rises to a height of one or two feet. This tube contains a 
powerful omniscope, or "eye," which enables the submarine commander 
to see a perfect reflection of the whole surface of the water for miles 
around, just as plainly as if he stood a raft and scanned the horizon 
through a telescope. 

Watching Its Prey from Beneath the Waves. 

In a series of tests to determine what danger the submarine ran of 
being detected by an enemy, it was proved that in a calm sea the tiny 
gray speck of the submarine's conning tower cannot be seen, even 
through the most powerful marine glasses, more than a mile. In a rough 
sea, the conning tower will hardly be visible at more than a few hundred 
yards. The danger of the submarine being hit by an enemy's guns is 
very- small, as the conning tower is only two feet six inches in diameter. 
It is protected by four-inch plates, capable of resisting the impact of four- 
inch projectiles. 

And when the submarine boat was totally submerged — that is, with 
nothing but the tip of the omniscope projecting above the waves, it was 
impossible to "pick out" the boat until it was within two hundred yards 
of the supposed enemy. 

From this it will be understood how easy it was for the Japanese 
submarines to creep unobserved right up to the entrance to the Port 
Arthur channel and lie in wait for their prey there. Not only was Ad- 
miral Makarofif unaware of their presence; he probably had only a 
vague suspicion of their existence. In any event, he had no reason to 
suspect that even the daring Japanese would send a submarine out miles 
beyond the protection of their own war ships and give battle — a pigmy 
against one of the most powerful battleships afloat. 



334 DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 

But this. is what probably happened. The submarine which sank the 
Petropavlovsk waited submerged just outside of Port Arthur. A few 
of Admiral Togo's ships made a demonstration which plainly meant: 
"Come out and fight." The Russian admiral accepted the challenge and 
stepped right into the trap set for him with devilish ingenuity by the 
wily Japs. 

Petropavlovsk Enticed Into a Trap. 

We have already told of the frightful consequences of that fatal 
step. The Petropavlovsk was singled out by the hidden submarine as 
its intended victim. Silently and swiftly it approached the enormous 
battleship which was then on its way back to the harbor after ascer- 
taining the overwhelming strength of the enemy. 

Still unobserved, the Japanese submarine drew nearer until it was 
well within striking distance. Then a Whitehead torpedo was discharged 
at the Petropavlovsk, which staggered and sank beneath the series of 
external and internal explosions that followed. 

Four Years Consumed in Building the Petropavlovsk. 

About two years are required to build and complete a battleship. In 
the case of the Petropavlovsk almost four years were consumed in 
building, and even after she was launched another four years was spent 
in experimenting with her guns, engines, armor plate and fighting tops 
before she was considered ready for active service. During all this time 
an average of one hundred men were employed daily in the ship's con- 
struction, either in the Adm.iralty yard or in the arsenal or government 
armor-plate works, where much of the material was turned out. This 
accounted for almost a million and a quarter dollars in wages. 

The Petropavlovsk had a displacement of eleven thousand tons, 
represented for the most part by iron and steel. This, with other items 
of construction, such as timber and glass, accounted for $950,000 more. 
Another enormous item of expense was the armament, on which it has 
been estimated that a round million dollars was, spent. 

The ship's powerful engines cost fully $450,000 to build, and in con- 
nection with these must be considered the electric hoists, steering ap- 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 335 

paratus, heating and lighting apparatus and all the other modern ap- 
pliances and contrivances which contribute to the completion of the 
modern fighting ship. Then there were interior and exterior fittings 
which cost a large fortune in themselves, and a list of miscellaneous 
necessary appliances for working the ship, which ran the total cost to the 
five-million-dollar mark. . 

Launching the Battleship. 

A curious ceremony marked the launching of the Petropavlovsk. The 
battleship was christened, blessed and dedicated to the service of the 
Czar according to the rules of the Greek Orthodox Church — a procedure 
in striking contract with that which attends the launching of an Ameri- 
can or English warship. 

An altar with shiniag golden candelabra and a generous silver font 
of holy water was arranged under the battleship's prow, and when the 
hour for the launching ceremony drew near a score of bronzed sailors 
assembled under the starboard side of the bow and opened little black 
hymn books as they prepared to chant the prescribed anthems. Down 
on the giT)und hundreds of other sailors drew up in line as a guard of 
honor. Six bishops and priests, wearing their flowing vestments, led 
the procession of lesser dignitaries, officials of the Russian government 
and invited guests. 

How the Battleship Was Christened. 

As soon as the priests reached the platform erected under the Pe- 
tropavlovsk's prow they took their places at the altar and the cere- 
monies commenced. The opening prayer was listened to by all with 
uncovered heads, and then the sailor choir chanted the first hymn of the 
christening service. A choral mass followed, during which the ship 
and name were made one, and were dedicated to the Czar's service. 

As they concluded the mass the celebrants blessed the battleship 
thrice, standing directly under the powerful-looking ram. Then they 
held aloft the golden crucifix which the bishops, priests and officials rev- 
erently kissed. Then 200 brawny men drove home the wedges and split 
the keel blocks out. The beams that had shored up the ship in her 



336 DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 

cradle were knocked loose and then the men stood waiting for the sig- 
nal to cut away the "shoe" pieces, or last restraining timbers. 

One of the bishops advanced with a large crucifix and a Russian 
naval officer with a golden sword. Side by side they stood against the 
prow and waited while a final benediction was pronounced. Then, as 
the crucifix and sword touched the prow together the workmen tore 
out the last remaining "shoe" pieces, and the Petropavlovsk was launched 
upon a career which ended so disastrously just outside of the harbor at 
Port Arthur, 

The following graphic description of the loss of the Petropavlovsk 
is from the pen of a war correspondent who witnessed the disaster : 

"Tuesday, April 12, Vice Admiral Makaroff took to sea with his 
entire squadron, including fourteen torpedo boats. The next night, 
April 13, in the teeth of a gale, eight torpedo boats were sent out to 
reconnoiter. From Golden Hill, on which I was standing, through the 
blackness the searchlight of the fortifications flashed over the inky 
waters of the roadstead and far out to the hazy horizon. 

Hears Firing at Sea. 

"At II o'clock I heard firing at sea and counted seven shots, but 
could see nothing. At daybreak I made out through the light haze to 
the southward, about five miles from shore, six torpedo boats strung 
out in line, all firing. In the lead and outstripping the others was a 
boat heading at full speed directly for the entrance of the harbor. The 
last in line was beclouded in steam and lagging. She evidently had been 
hit. It was difficult to distinguish our boats, but finally through my 
glasses I saw that the leader and the laggard were Russian and that the 
other four were Japanese. 

"The flash of the guns and the splash of the projectiles as they 
struck the water showed the intensity of the conflict. The torpedo boat 
from which steam was escaping was firing viciously. The four center 
craft drew together, concentrating their fire upon her, but the crippled 
destroyer poured out her fire and was successfully keeping off her as- 
sailants. 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 337 

News Is Flashed. 

"The signal station flashed the news to the man of the batteries that 
the vessel was the Strashni, The unequal combat was observed with 
breathless interest, but the net drew close around the doomed boat. 
The four Japanese vessels formed a semi-circle and poured in a deadly 
fire. The steam from the Strashni grew denser, covering her like a white 
pall. Still she fought like a desperately wounded animal brought to 
bay. Running straight for the adversary barring her way to safety, she 
passed the Japanese astern and fired at them. 

"At this stage Vice Admiral MakarofY, who had been observing the 
progress of the conflict through a telescope, signaled to the cruiser 
Bayan, lying in the inner harbor, to weigh anchor and go out to the 
rescue. 

Cling to Their Victim. 

"The Japanese destroyers clung to their victim like hounds in a 
chase. They had become separated, but again resumed their formation. 
Small jets of flame and smoke were spurting from the light rapid-firers, 
varied by denser clouds as torpedoes were discharged against the 
Strashni. 

"It was the end. The stricken boat loosed a final round, but it was 
as if a volley had been fired over her own grave, for she disappeared 
beneath the waves, only a little cloud of steam marking the place where 
she went down. 

"Satisfied with what they had accomplished, the Japanese torpedo 
boats turned and made off at full speed, followed by the Bayan. To 
their support came six of the enemy's cruisers. Still the Bayan went 
on, seemingly inviting certain destruction. She soon ported her helm 
to bring a broadside to bear upon the foe, which was advancing in line 
of battle. She opened fire on some of them and turned quickly and stood 
on into the hail of the enemy's broadsides. The Japanese steamed at a 
slight angle, enabling all their guns to bear, and projectiles rained 
around the Bayan, raising columns of water as they burst, but none 
struck home. 



338 DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 

Torpedo Boats Appear. 

"To the eastward suddenly appeared five more of our torpedo boats, 
returning to the harbor under forced draught. Two of the Japanese 
cruisers were immediately detached to cut them off, but the Bayan, 
noticing the movement, checkmated it by turning a hot fire upon them. 
The movement was effective. The Japanese cruisers slowed down and 
the torpedo boats slipped through into the harbor. 

"Meantime, in accordance with Vice Admiral MakarofT's order, the 
battleships and cruisers in the inner harbor slipped anchor. Majesti- 
cally the Petropavlovsk, flying the admiral's flag, steamed through the 
entrance. On her appearance the more formidable of the Japanese 
cruisers turned and fled. The admiral signaled the Bayan to return. 
Then a stream of vari-colored signal flags fluttered out, 'Bravo, Bayan.' 

"By this time the entire Russian squadron was in the outer harbor. 
Besides the Petropavlovsk, I saw the battleships Peresviet, Poltava, 
Pobieda and Sevastopol, the cruisers Novik, Diana and Askold, and the 
torpedo boats. The flags announcing the admiral's approbation of the 
Bayan were hauled down and replaced by another signal. Imme- 
diately the torpedo boats dashed ahead and the heavier ships began to 

spread out. 

Enemy Out of Range. 

"Seeing the flight of the Japanese cruisers, the Petropavlovsk opened 
fire with her great guns, but the enemy was out of range and soon dis- 
appeared. Our squadron continued the chase, finally fading from view. 
I waited anxiously for its reappearance and in about an hour it came in 
sight. Far beyond it, the number of points from which smoke arose 
announced the presence of the enemy. Nearer and nearer came the 
vessels, and at last I made out behind our squadron a fleet of fourteen 
of which six were battleships and the remainder armored and unarmored 
cruisers. 

"Our squadron, with the Petropavlovsk leading, arrived at the 
entrance to the harbor and drew up in line of battle. Another signal 
was floated from the flag ship and the torpedo boats at once proceeded 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 339 

through the entrance into the inner harbor. Vice Admiral Makaroff 
evidently was unwilling to risk his vulnerable craft to the heavy pro- 
jectiles of the enemy's armored ships. 

Prepared for Death. 

"I watched the Petropavlovsk closely as she steamed toward Elec- 
tric Cliff. The frowning marine monster, whose guns were ever turning 
toward the enemy, was prepared to send huge messengers of death 
against him. All was quiet. It was the hush before a battle — the hush 
when every nerve is strained. I looked for the Japanese ships, but they 
were without movement, save that caused by the heaving sea. 

"My glance returned to our squadron. The Petropavlovsk was 
almost without headway, when suddenly I saw her tremble. She 
seemed to rise out of the water, a tremendous explosion rent the air, 
then a second and then a third. Fragments flew in all directions and 
wreckage and men were mixed up in a terrible mass. 

Sinks in Open Sea. 

"I was hardly able to realize the horror of it when the ship began to 
list. In a moment the sea seemed to open and the water rushed over 
her. The Petropavlovsk had disappeared. The floating woodwork and 
the few men struggling in the water were all that were left to recall the 
splendid fighting machine which a few hours before had sailed out of 
the harbor. 

"The same shock experienced by the observers on Golden Hill para- 
lyzed for a moment the men on the ships, but when it passed, torpedo 
boats and small boats hastened to the rescue of the survivors. 

"Eager to ascertain what had occurred on board the sunken ship, I 
hastened to a landing where a small remnant of the crew were being put 
ashore and conveyed to a hospital. Signalman Bochkoff, who was 
slightly wounded, was able to give me a remarkably clear statement of 
the disaster. He said: 

" *We were returning to the harbor, the Petropavlovsk leading. 
Some of our cruisers which had remained in the harbor came out and 



340 DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 

steamed toward the enemy, firing sixteen shots at him with their bow 
guns. They then retired. The enemy numbered fourteen heavy ships, 
nearly all armored, while ours were nine. Against their armored cruis- 
ers we had only the Bayan. I stood in the wheelhouse on the bridge of 
the Petropavlovsk, looking up the signal book. The admiral's last signal 
had been for the torpedo boats to enter the harbor. 

Explosions Are Heard. 

" 'The Petropavlovsk slowed speed and almost stood still. Suddenly 
the ship shook violently. I heard a fearful explosion, immediately fol- 
lowed by another and then another. They seemed to me to be directly 
under the bridge. I rushed to the door of the wheelhouse, where I met 
an officer, probably a helmsman. I could not pass him, and I sprang to 
the window and jumped out. The ship was listing, and I feared that 
every moment she would turn over. 

" 'On the bridge I saw an officer weltering in blood — it was our ad- 
miral — Makaroff. He lay face downward. I sprang to him, grasped 
him by the shoulder and attempted to raise him. 

" 'The ship seemed to be falling somewhere. From all sides flew 
fragments. I heard the deafening screech and the frightful din. The 
smoke rose in dense clouds and the flames seemed to leap toward the 
bridge where I was standing beside the admiral. I jumped on the rail 
and was washed off, but succeeded in grabbing something. I was sucked 
down. I remember the falling masts and then nothing more. 

" 'On our ship was an old man with a beautiful white beard, who had 
been good to our men. He had a book in his hand and seemed to be 
writing, perhaps sketching. He was Verestchagin, the painter.' '* 

Japanese Naval Disasters. 

On April 26, two Russian torpedo-boats of the Vladivostok squadron, 
while ofif Sinpho, met the Japanese military transport Kinshiu Maru 
laden with military stores and coal, and carrying detachments of troops. 
The captain of the ship and three or four officers went on board the Rus- 
sian. The men on board the transport refused to surrender, and seven- 



DESTRUCTION OF THE PETROPAVLOVSK. 341 

ty-three of them were sent to the bottom with the ship. Some, how- 
ever, escaped in boats. The same evening the Russians also sank the 
Japanese steamer Nakamaura Maru whose crew were placed in safety. 

On May 15, the Japanese lost two warships. The details of the disas- 
ter, according to Admiral Togo, were as follows : 

"At fourteen minutes past i in the afternoon of May 15, in a deep 
fog off Port Arthur, the Kasuga rammed the Yoshino, sinking the latter 
in a few minutes. The same morning the Hatsuse, while cruising off 
Port Arthur covering the landing of the soldiers, struck a mine ten knots 
southeast of the harbor entrance. She signalled for help and instantly 
struck another mine. She sank in half an hour. Three hundred of her 
crew were saved by torpedo boats." 

The crew of the Yoshino comprised 300 men, which would make the 
list of fatalities on her part 210. The HatsuSe carried a crew of seventy- 
four, and as 300 were rescued, the fatalities were computed to be 441, 
making a total of 651 for both boats. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 
FIRST LAND BATTLES 

The Battle of Chong-ju — The Drama of the Yalu — The First Move — Japanese Gunnery — 
The Russians Evacuate Tiger Hill — Masterly Strategy — Eussian Guns Silenced — A 
Frontal Attack — Planting the Japanese Flag on the Ridge — A Desperate Bayonet 
Charge — The Moral Effect of the Victory. 

DURING the early days of the campaign the movements of the 
Japanese army on the west coast of Korea were shrouded in mys- 
tery. It became known finally, however, that the troops of the Mikado 
had concluded a series of gradual advances with the occupation of Wiju. 
The preliminary skirmish occurred at 10:30 a. m, on March 28th, when 
the Russians and Japanese came for the first time into touch at Chong- 
ju, a walled Korean town to the north of Anju. Previous to this 
engagement there had been only occasional firing between scouts, but 
in this encounter six companies of Russians met Japanese infantry and 
cavalry in Chong-ju in an encounter which lasted for nearly two hours. 

The Battle of Cheng- Ju. 

The Russians were advancing to Kasan, where they had heard that 
bodies of Japanese patrols had been seen. On arriving at Chong-ju they 
encountered a company of Japanese infantry and a squadron of cavalry. 
The Russians, with an additional three companies, took up a position on 
a ridge commanding the town. The Russian account states that "not- 
withstanding this and our commanding position, the Japanese gallantly 
held their ground, and it was only after a fierce fight of half-an-hour's 
duration that they ceased fire and sought refuge in the houses. They 
hoisted Red Cross flags at two points. Soon afterwards, on the Kasan 
road, three squadrons of the enemy were seen advancing at full gallop 
towards the town, which two squadrons succeeded in entering. The 
third fell back in disorder under the repeated volleys of our troops, men 

342 



FIRST LAND BATTLES. 343 

and horses being seen to fall. For an hour afterwards our companies 
continued to fire on the Japanese in the town, preventing them from 
leaving the streets and houses to open fire on us. An hour and a half 
after the beginning of the engagement four companies appeared on the 
Kasan road hastening up to attack." The Russians then retired and 
formed up in line behind the hill. The force "moved on" but not in the 
direction of Kasan. Eventually it reached Koaksan and proceeded 
northward. The Japanese account stated that in the army's forward 
rnovement the Russians were compelled to retire from Chong-ju. This 
step was followed by the advance of the Japanese through Seng-chen, 
with which there was a corresponding movement concluding with the 
occupation of Yongampo and Wiju, and finally of Chyang-syong, a 
point some little distance from the estuary of the Yalu, and one which 
once its seizure had been accomplished enabled a wider front upon the 
river to be secured. 

The Struggle on the Yalu. 

The following graphic description of the battle of the Yalu, the first 
great engagement on land between the Japanese and Russian forces was 
prepared, for the author, by the military expert of the London Times, 
who was an eye-witness of the conflict. 

The operations which resulted in the crossing of the Yalu by the 
Japanese culminated May i, in the occupation of Kiu-lien-cheng, north 
of the Bany River and opposite Wiju. Before crossing the Japanese 
occupied a front extending from Yongampo to a point fifteen miles 
above Wiju, whence Gen. Kuroki directed movements extending down 
and slightly beyond the mouth of the river. Their left cannot easily be 
accounted for, but it is understood to have extended a long distance, one 
detachment having crossed the river seventy-five miles above Wiju and 
disarmed a body of Korean soldiers. 

How the Land Lay. 

At Wiju the Yalu is split into three streams by two Islands, which 
were held, respectively, by Russians and Japanese, the middle of the 



344 rlRST LAND BATTLES. 

stream forming the barrier dividing the two forces. The river bed 
opposite Wiju is two miles wide. One mile above the islands the river 
Ai joins the Yalu. There is a range of mountains between the islands, 
culminating in a rocky promontory, Tiger Hill, which juts into the bed 
of the river one mile from Wiju. 

Between Tiger Hill and the Korean shore is another island, occupy- 
ing the river bed some miles above Wiju, Tiger Hill and the adjoining 
mainland formed the strategic key to the Russian position, and its pos- 
session was essential to the success of the Japanese plans. 

First Forward Move. 

April 28 the Japanese made their first move, occupying the island 
above Tiger Hill, after a brisk fight, in which they lost nine killed and 
twenty-four wounded. During the day the Russians opened fire, with 
field artillery, from Kiu-lien-cheng, upon a number of Japanese and 
coolies, who were building a trestle bridge from Wiju to the first island. 

Later in the day- they shelled Wiju for ten minutes, inflicting slight 
damage. The Japanese refrained from replying. At night, according 
to the Japanese, the Russians vacated Tiger Hill, an inexplicable step. 

During the night of April 28 and the following day, various points 
somewhere above Wiju were occupied. One division of Japanese in- 
fantry crossed the Yalu without opposition from the island occupied 
during the day. 

The Russians evacuated the island adjoining Kiu-lien-cheng April 
29, and reoccupied Tiger Hill and its neck, evidently aware of the cross- 
ing higher up and desirous of strengthening their left against the devel- 
opment of the Japanese right. 

The Japanese Marksmanship Accurate. 

In the afternoon the Japanese upon the island above Tiger Hill were 
subjected to a heavy rifle fire from the dominating heights, and for the 
first time the Japanese used artillery. Two batteries north of Wiju 
castle were employed to search the slopes from which the Russians 
were firing, and twenty minutes of scathing shrapnel firing was kept up. 



FIRST LAND BATTLES. 345 

The Russians were seen laboriously climbing the steep ascents in a vain 
endeavor to escape the leaden showers. Many dead and wounded were 
left. 

The Russian artillery at Kiu-lien-cheng made ineffectual attempts 
to quell the Japanese fire, their efforts being in remarkable contrast to 
the accuracy and concentration of the Japanese shooting. 

That night the concentration movement, on foot for some days, 
came to a head, one division being already across the river and the 
other two massed behind the hill a mile north of Wiju, protected from 
the fire of the Russian guns at Kiu-lien-cheng. 

Surprise for the Russians. 

A great surprise was in store for the Russians. What happened the 
following day with regard to artillery, deserves to be ranked among 
the cleverest moves of warfare since the introduction of modern ord- 
nance. The concentration of the division also appears to have been 
masterly, not only in the execution of movements, but in the manner in 
which they were concealed from the enemy, who appear to have been 
ignorant that the Japanese left had closed upon Wiju. 

At daybreak, April 30, the scene was peaceful in the extreme. 
Across the sandy bed of the Yalu meandered three sparkling blue 
streams. Beyond, the purple mountains of Manchuria stretched in end- 
less vista. Only on the southern slopes of the hills on the Korean side 
v/as there evidence of war. Dropping our gaze from the far north to 
our feet, we saw a valley black with men, horses, baggage, and ammuni- 
tion trains, and all the paraphernalia of an army on the move. The 
suggestion was that the army would cross the river, that the crossing 
was inevitable, and that the possibility of defeat did not enter into the 
Japanese calculations. 

What the Daylight Showed. 

When the rising sun lit up the hills opposite Wiju, Japanese in thou- 
sands were descried, strung out in single file and streaming along the 
bridle path traversing the lower slopes. As they wound in and out of 



346 FIRST LAND BATTLES. 

the ravines they gradually ascended, their object evidently being to 
occupy the heights commanding Tiger Hill and its approaches. 

Rounding the spur, they came into view^ of the Russians on Tiger 
Hill neck and were instantly subjected to a heavy shrapnel fire. The 
Russian gun position was thus revealed and the Japanese batteries 
north of Wiju opened fire and speedily silenced the Russian guns. The 
Japanese steadily advanced, and soon scaled the heights, whence they 
brought rifle fire to bear on the Russians, who were eventually com- 
pelled to cross the Ai and join their main force. 

Dramatic Features o£ Day. 

During these operations the dramatic feature of the day was wit- 
nessed. The Russians believed the enemy possessed field guns only, 
and their positions were calculated to deal with artillery of that caliber 
alone. For the same reason they had taken no pains to mask their guns. 
When the Japanese opened upon them with several howitzer batteries 
they were thunderstruck. On the first island opposite Wiju, held by 
the Japanese, is a belt of trees, vividly green and fresh looking. From 
out of this innocent-looking gem of nature came a terrible rain of shell 
and shrapnel, which played upon the Russian batteries on the conical 
hill, swept men and guns, tore the ground and smashed rocks. In the 
air around the Russian position were white puffs of smoke, denoting 
the explosion of shrapnel, while the hill itself, struck by shells from the 
heavy howitzers, looked like an active volcano, belching clouds of gray, 
black smoke from a dozen different places. No sooner had the storm 
burst than the Russian shrapnel streamed through the air in reply to 
the unexpected attack. 

The green of the trees was obscured by the smoke of bursting shells. 
Clouds of sand and dust raised by the missiles striking the ground 
floated away on the wind, and the booming guns and the deep thunder- 
ing sound of the explosion filled the valley. For half an hour the Rus- 
sians stuck to their guns manfully, but gradually their guns were 
silenced. An attempt was made to bring up horses to remove the guns, 
but this was foiled by a fresh outburst from the Japanese artillery. The 



FIRST LAND BATTLES. 347 

Japanese fire was then directed on the Russian camp and picket Hnes, 
creating great havoc. 

Japanese Well Protected. 

Trees hid the position of the Japanese from the Russians, which was 
directed on the belt of trees from which the deadly hail came, but the 
high angle fire of the howitzers enabled the Japanese to work their 
guns from pits which the Russian shrapnel fired at random, rarely 
penetrated. 

The success of the day was with the Japanese, and the glory with 
the Russians, who fought their guns to the bitter end. On the night of 
April 30, the infantry of another Japanese division crossed the Yalu, 
followed by a third division. At daybreak, May i, they could be seen 
on the Russian side of the river stretched out in long, thin black lines, 
sheltered by the depressions in the bed of the river. 

It was easily seen that the Japanese contemplated a frontal attack. 
Before any move was made the Japanese guns opened up on the ground 
behind Kiu-leen-cheng with shrapnel shell, sweeping and searching 
every inch of the ridges where the Russians were supposed to be. No 
Russian guns replied. They had departed. 

Soon the Japanese fire slackened, and then the leading line upon the 
sand became animated and slowly crept forward toward the base of the 
conical hill. It advanced quite a long time, during which the suspense 
was painful to endure. Then there came to listening ears the quick 
grunting of distant volleys stuttering down the wind and the sound of 
heavy musketry fire. 

The line showed gaps, faltered, and melted away, some running 
backward, others taking to shelter, many mortally hurt, but the second 
line close behind gathered up the remnants and swept on, followed by 
line upon line. Closing on the hill, they diverged to the right and left, 
winding up the precipitous front and swarming the sloping sides. 

Japanese Flag Unfurled. 

Meanwhile, at the first volley from the Russians the Japanese artil- 
lery again began to plant shells .upon the ridge, raising clouds of dust 



348 FIRST LAND BATTLES. 

in every direction. The Japanese continued to climb until they were 
near the top, when they halted and massed ready to charge over the 
crest. 

Then, in the very midst of the dark blot upon the hillside appeared 
two flashes and two enlarging clouds. It was another of these sickening 
accidents that occur on battlefields when guns have been supporting 
an assault. 

Twenty-seven modest Japanese graves now occupy the spot as the 
heavy penalty for a slight misunderstanding. Worse of the same nature 
was to befall the Russians before long. At last the rush was made and 
the Japanese flag was bravely unfurled, first on one side and then on 
the other, one dark figure racing along, defying the bullets of the retir- 
ing Russians, to plant his country's flag in the highest possible place. 

Japan had beaten the Russians at their first meeting on land and 
vindicated her claim to a place among nations. 

Could Not Remove Guns. 

On May 6 the capture of the Russian position at Kiu-hen-cheng 
revealed the fact that the Russians were unable to remove eight of their 
guns, owing, it is believed, to lack of horses, which shows the deadli- 
ness of the fire the Japanese directed against the Russian picketing lines 
on the previous day. 

Evidently the Russians anticipated more deliberation on the part of 
the enemy, whose dashing onslaught forced them to retire and leave 
these coveted trophies of war. Hardly had the Japanese scaled the 
position at Kiu-lien-cheng than the reserves of two divisions, who had 
hitherto taken no part in the proceedings, were set in motion. Both 
bodies of men, accompanied by mountain guns, hurried along, right and 
left of the Peking road, with the intention of cutting off the retreat of 
the defeated Russians. The reserves of the remaining division fol- 
lowed more leisurely, employing delayed tactics. 

The flanking bodies in their haste outstripped their guns, and, after 
advancing parallel to the road until abreast of the retiring enemy, they 
suddenly closed in, completely surprising the Russians, who were forced 
to take a defensive position at Hohmutang. 



FIRST LAND BATTLES. 349 

Desperate Charge at Hohmutang. 

The body pursuing in the rear quickened its movements, and all 
three simultaneously engaged the Russians. A desperate fight ensued, 
the Russians at a short range using their guns with deadly effect. The 
Japanese greatly outnumbered their opponents and inflicted terrible 
losses with rifle fire. Without guns the Japanese might well have re- 
tired and waited for support, but the men, jealous of the laurels earned 
by their comrades earlier in the day, were wild to get at the enemy. 

With loud cheers all three bodies, with bayonets fixed, charged the 
Russian positions in almost soHd masses. Such impetuosity, backed by 
superior numbers, could not be withstood, and the Russians hoisted the 
V\^hite flag in token of surrender. With the Russians were twenty guns, 
all of which fell into the hands of the Japanese. Twenty officers were 
taken prisoners and 400 men, more than half of them wounded. 

The official figures of the casualties and captures on May i state 
that the Japanese losses were: Killed, 5 officers and 160 men; wounded, 
29 officers and 666 men ; total, 860. So far as the Russians are con- 
cerned, 1,362 dead bodies were buried by the Japanese, while 475 
wounded were conveyed to the Japanese hospital. The captures were 
28 guns, 20 officers and 138 men in addition to the wounded. 

The dis^iribution of the Russian force, which had its center at Kiu- 
lien-cheng, was approximately 2,000 west of Antung, 20,000 at Antung, 
and 5,000 at Kiu-lien-cheng. The Russians known to have occupied 
various points on the Yalu above Kiu-lien-cheng took no part in the 
operations described, nor did any of those below Kiu-lien-cheng. 

Russians Were Outnumbered. 

While the remarkable victory rests with the Japanese, the fact re- 
mains that they outnumbered the enemy nearly ten to one, and must 
necessarily have effected a crossing and scored success, but that they 
should have inflicted calamitous defeat upon the Russians beyond all 
prediction is accounted for by the fact that Russian methods, guns, 
and rifles are old fashioned. With the Japanese no fault can be found, 
except that they achieved results at great expense which might have 



350 FIRST LAND BATTLES. 

been accomplished with but Httle loss, would have held the Russians 
and permitted a flanking movement on a wider and larger scale, similar 
to the one which actually took place on the Russian left, seeing that 
they were in possession of Tiger Hill. Such a move on the part of the 
Japanese would have been perfectly practicable, considering the number 
of men and guns at their disposal. 

Two factors doubtless influenced them, one the necessity of giving 
an army, clamorous to emulate the deeds of their naval brethren, an 
opportunity to earn distinction, and the other the political expediency 
of inflicting a stunning blow on the enemy and demonstrating at one 
and the same time their ability to cope with European troops in close 
quarters. These objects they achieved with the loss of about 900 men, 
three-fourths of whom were soon ready for duty again. Though the 
fighting strength of the Russian forces in the Far East was impaired 
infinitesimally — for many of the guns captured were old, and it is as- 
sumed that they are well furnished with modern weapons — the moral 
effect on the Russian army was tremendous. 

They realized that the Japanese soldier was not an object of con- 
tempt, but an equal, bold, and relentless foe in war. This was not 
without effect on the ill-paid Russian soldier, who is almost half a slave. 
The Japanese calculated upon this effect. 

Ghouls on Battlefield. 

On the night of the ist instant Japanese headquarters encamped at 
Kiu-lien-cheng, the troops after their hard day's fighting bivouacking 
where they were halted. During the night bands of Chinese swarmed 
over the two battlefields, stripping the dead of clothes and accoutre- 
ments. The Japanese, greatly enraged, established a system of patrols, 
which prevented the possiblity of such a recurrence or anything sim- 
ilar. They are offering rewards for the apprehension of the miscreants. 

On May 2 a Japanese patrol brought word that on the previous 
night, near Fang-hen-cheng, two Russian parties met in the dark, each 
mistaking the other for the enemy, A furious fight ensued, which 
lasted until daylight, when the Russians discovered their grievous error. 



FIRST LAND BATTLES. 351 

It appears that they were rear flanking parties, retiring on the main 
Russian force, and had narrowly escaped being included in the net 
which the Japanese had thrown around the rear guard. 

Being unable to join their comrades during daylight, they essayed 
at night to effect a junction, going across country and marching over 
hills, which in the dark was impracticable. Unfortunately, one party, 
which had found the road and was making for the Russian camp, heard 
another party scrambling over the rocks, and opened fire in the direc- 
tion of the noise, with the unhappy result recorded. 

Splendid in Battle. 

The following brief but graphic recital of the battle on the Yalu 
was furnished by an eye-witness who was with the Japanese forces : 

"The moonlight night broke into a splendid dawn and revealed the 
Japanese army drawn up as if on parade. The Russians did not re- 
spond to the opening of the Japanese fire, but remained silent and 
invisible. The Japanese line of infantry, two miles long and entirely 
exposed, advanced from point to point by swift, sudden rushes, smartly 
executed in the most brilliant style, firing steadily all the while. We 
watched anxiously, anticipating that each rush would enter the zone 
of fire. The Japanese were working around the sides of Kiu-Lien Bay 
to their position when the Russian trenches suddenly poured a hurri- 
cane of rifle fire into them with deadly effect. 

"For a moment the Japanese advance weakened and recoiled, then 
rallied and once more rushed forward across the stream, .obtaining 
some shelter in a dead angle under the base of the mountain. The 
Russians, not having guns, were unable to reply to the continuous fire 
of the Japanese artillery. 

"The Japanese advance was marked now by prostrate bodies. In 
one instance two Japanese shells did terrible execution among their 
own men, who were ascending the slope. Two hours after the advance 
began an oflicer suddenly appeared at the top of the slope waving a 
large Japanese flag, sending an electric thrill through the beholders, 
all far and near shouting 'Banzai.' " 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 
THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU 

Nanshan Hill— The Russian Army Strongly Fortified— Caliber of Russian Guns Ascer- 
tained — Battlefield Lighted by Electricity— A Gap in the Defence — Capture of Kin- 
chou — Storming the Heights — A Famous Victory — Japanese Valor — ^Evacuation of 
Dalny— Story by an Eye Witness — Loss on Both Sides. 

AT 5:30 A. M., Thursday, May 26, the Japanese army, which 
began the attack on Kinchou on Saturday, May 21, captured 
the city, and after an all-day battle drove the Russians from the crest 
of Nanshan hill, at the point of the bayonet, at 7 o'clock in the evening 
of the same day. 

Nanshan hill was taken at a fearful sacrifice of life. Time and again 
the Japanese lines essayed to storm the height in the face of a terrible 
rifle and artillery fire. Each time they were thrown back, their lines 
decimated and shattered. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon the Japanese 
lines were reformed for a last and desperate effort. 

The Russians fought doggedly, but after a four hours' struggle the 
Japanese swept the crest of the hill, driving the Russians to the south- 
ward in confusion and panic. As a feat of arms the capture of Nanshan 
hill has not been equaled in war since Skobeleff threw the Russian 
regiments at the impenetrable defenses of Plevna in a vain effort to 
carry them by storm. 

Nanshan a Fortress. 

Nanshan hill, 1,100 feet high, was held by the extreme left of the 
Russian army, and was believed by the Russians to be impregnable. 
The hill was the strongest part of the Russian line. A series of bat- 
teries, strongly emplaced, crowded its crest, while rifle pits extended 
around its sides. Mines had been placed lower down on this hill, and 
around the base on the northern and eastern sides were stretched well- 
made wire entanglements. Another line of defenses, also protected 

. 352 



THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 353 

with wire entanglements, extended from Yenchiatung- near the Vicad 
of TaHenwan bay, due north of Linchiatien, which hes south of Kin- 
chou. 

Jap Valor Severely Tried. 

This was Nanshan hill, and it was over these mines, through these 
pits, trenches and barbed wire entanglements, and in the face of bat- 
tery after battery of artillery and line after line of intrenched infantry 
that the Japanese troops fought their way, inch by inch, foot by foot, 
to the battery-crowned crest of the height and drove the enemy south- 
ward toward Port Arthur. 

The capture of Nanshan hill was the climax of five days and nights 
of battle. The Japanese army with only field artillery and no heavy 
guns, owing to the difficulty of transportation, was in position for the 
attack Saturday. The Russians had made elaborate preparations to 
check the Japanese movement south on the Liaotung peninsula toward 
Port Arthur. They had fortified the high ground on the south shore 
of TaHenwan bay, their works extending to the east and the west. 
The extreme Russian right was at Hushangtao, and the extreme left 
at Nanshan hill. This hill was the strongest part of the line. At 
Kinchou itself the Russians had a strong force of infantry and artil- 
lery. 

The Japanese first occupied the line of hills to the east of Kinchou. 
Their position had formed an almost perfect right angle, showing its 
southern front to TaHenwan and its western front to Kinchou, ChiuH- 
chan village was the apex of this angle; the extreme right of the 
Japanese lines rested at Chenchatien, which is almost due north of 
Chiulichan, while the extreme left was at Chaitsuho, a village due east 
of Chiulichan. Back of this angle the attacking force assembled in 
complete security. 

Artillery Opens on Saturday. 

The Russians apparently attempted to draw the Japanese attack 

on Saturday, for their batteries opened fire on the enemy on that day. 

The Japanese, however, refused to be drawn into battle until the 



354 THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 

positions of the Russians, their guns, and their strength had been fully 
developed. To this end the Japanese began a series of careful recon- 
noissances, their officers working their way close enough to the Rus- 
sian position to draw the enemy's fire. They thus secured fragments 
of shells for the purpose of ascertainng the caliber of the Russian guns. 

Caliber of Russian Guns. 

They discovered that the batteries on Nanshan hill included four 
howitzers of about 15 centimeters caliber, ten old-style cannon of be- 
tween 9 and 15 centimeters caliber, and two quick firing guns of 12 
centimeters. 

The Japanese discovered also a number of large emplacements, but 
they did not learn the number of guns contained therein. These em- 
placements faced to the north and to the east. 

The guns fired by the Russians developed a range of 8,500 meters. 
Eight heavy guns posted on the Russian right in the vicinity of Hush- 
angtao also were discovered, and another strong Russian position 
developed by these reconnoissances was on another hill southwest of 
Nanshan hill, where the Russians had a series of shelter trenches. 

Electrically Lighted Battleground. 

On the shore of Talienwan bay, close to the head of the bay, the 
Russians had established a series of positions. Here were set up the 
searchlights which all through Wednesday night played over the Jap- 
anese angle in the hills to the northeast. Probably this was the first 
instance in the history of warfare that contending armies fought over 
a battlefield lighted by electricity. 

Russian's Fatal Error. 

Further reconnoissances developed the fact that west of Liuchiatien 
the Russians had no defenses. Extending to the northward from 
Yenchiatien to the west coast of Liaotung peninsula there were no de- 
fenses whatever, except the force posted at Kinchou. 

This gap in the defense was a fatal defect in the Russian position, 
and when it was perceived the Japanese extended their right to the 



THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 355 

nortH and east, enveloping Kinchou and the Russian extreme right. 
The Japanese left also was extended to Wangchiatung, on the shore 
of Talienwan bay, and the center moved forward. ' 

Capture of Kinchou. 

Wednesday morning, May 25, at half-past 5 o'clock, the Japanese 
attacked Kinchou, and for three hours they had an artillery duel with 
the batteries on Nanshan hill. The Russian gunners searched the Jap- 
anese lines with their fire, but failed to inflict much damage. 

The battle was resumed at dawn on Thursday, May 26, and the 
land forces had the assistance of a number of warships from Vice 
Admiral Togo's fleet. 

Togo Aids the Army. 

The gunboats Tsukushi, Kei Yen, Amaki and Chokai, and the first 
torpedo boat flotilla under Capt. Nishiyama, reached Kinchou bay on 
the evening of Wednesday. From dawn of Thursday the vessels co- 
operated with the army in bombarding Nanshan hill. The Amaki and 
the Chokai, being light draft vessels, went in close and bombarded all 
day. 

At II o'clock in the morning the army retreated from Suchaton, 
but they continued to fire from a position behind Suchaton. The cas- 
ualties on the Japanese warships were ten, including Capt. Hayashi of 
the Chokai, who was killed. A Russian gunboat in Talienwan bay 
steamed close to the shore and shelled the Japanese left. From dawn 
the batteries on both sides hammered away at each other. 

At daybreak the Japanese infantry moved forward, and, after an 
hour's fighting, and at twenty minutes past 5 o'clock on Thursday 
morning, they entered Kinchou, the Russians retiring to the south and 
taking up a position on Nanshan hill. 

Nanshan Hill Attacked. 

The Japanese arm.y lost no time in pressing forward to the assault 
of Nanshan hill. It had been fighting day and night since Saturday, 
but its most fearful task was before it. 



356 THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 

The hill could be carried onl}^ by a frontal attack. The Japanese 
general realized the sacrifice, but it could not be evaded. The hill stood 
between the Japanese advance and Port Arthur. He ordered the attack. 

The Japanese troops advanced with a rush, cheering for the em- 
peror. They were driven back. Again they attacked and again they 
were driven back. The dead and wounded covered the ground of the 
bloody hillside, and yet again the mikado's soldiers rushed at the 
trenches, broke through the meshes of barbed wire and netting, only 
to be thrown back. 

Japs Storm the Heights. 

In the middle of the afternoon the Russian resistance apparently 
was as dogged as ever. Japanese reserves were brought up, and at 
3 o'clock the Japanese forces lined up for the final, and, as it proved to 
be, the successful rush up the hillside. The Russians, unable longer to 
resist the impetuous advance of the enemy, weakened as trench after 
trench was occupied by the mikado's troops. 

Finally, at 7 o'clock in the evening, after sixteen hours of con- 
tinuous battle, the Japanese lines swept the crests and Nanshan hill 
was won. 

Russians in Retreat. 

The Russians retired to the line of hills farther to the southward, 
toward Nanquanling, where they had constructed a second line of 
defense, but failed to rally at that point. As the Russians retreated 
they exploded a series of mines under the railroad, destroying it in 
many places. 

A brief official telegram characteristic of Japanese reserve summed 
up the result as follows : 

"We attacked the enemy at Nanshan, south of Kinchou. We 
silenced the enemy's forts upon Roten hill and occupied Nanshan at 7 
o'clock in the evening. At Nanshan the enemy offered a stubborn 
resistance. Each of the forts was surrounded by several trenches 
coupled together and equipped with additional means of defense and 
using efficient weapons. Several times we tried to carry the point, 



THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 357 

but failed to do so. At 3 o'clock p. m. we penetrated the enemy's 
position with fixed bayonets and the enemy retreated towards Nan- 
quanling. The enemy destroyed the Kinchou railway station with a 
mine. We fought for sixteen hours without cessation, and then carried 
the Russian position at the point of the bayonet despite the enemy's 
heavy fire." 

Fought Against Great Odds. 

Telegrams from the Japanese commanders were forwarded to 
Tokio, praising the bravery and fortitude of their officers and men. 
A Japanese officer of high rank made the following statement: 

"The Japanese in attacking Kinchou and Nanshan hill had to fight 
against great odds. The Russians were in full command of the 
strategical advantages afforded by nature, and these advantages were 
augmented by the newest inventions for defense. The forts on Nan- 
shan hill were armed with heavy guns. The Japanese had only field 
guns, heavy guns being unavailable on account of the difficulties of 
transportation. Our losses were heavy, but we gained the strongest 
point barring our way to the investment of Port Arthur." 

Destruction of Russian Mines. 

A noted military authority in commenting on the Japanese assault 
on Nanshan hill affirms that it was one of the fiercest and bloodiest 
affairs in modern warfare. In the earlier rushes of the engagement 
every man participating was shot down before he reached the first line 
of Russian trenches. It was found necessary to stop these infantry 
charges and renew the artillery fire from the rear before the final and 
successful assault on the Russian position could be made. 

The success of this assault was brought about by one detachment 
of Japanese troops, more intrepid than their comrades, who succeeded 
in piercing the Russian lines. 

A splendid stroke of fortune was the discovery and destruction by 
the Japanese of the electric wires leading to the mines at the eastern 
foot of Nanshan hill. This prevented the Russians from exploding 



358 THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 

these mines when the Japanese infantry crossed the ground where they 
had been placed. 

It is possible that the fortune of the day hinged upon these mines. 
If the Russians had been able to explode them at the right time the 
losses among the Japanese troops would have been tremendous, and 
it is possible also that the Russians would have been able to hold the 
hill. 

Nanshan Splendidly Defended. 

Nanshan was splendidly defended. Nearly fifty guns of various 
sizes were mounted on the various emplacements and there were also 
two batteries of quick firing field pieces. 

The artillery was sheltered behind loopholes trenched on the ter- 
races of the hill. The infantry manning the field pieces ran with them 
around the hill, thus using these guns for the protection of the most 
important points. 

Russian Batteries Silenced. 

The Japanese began the fight by bringing all. their field guns into 
action and concentrating their fire on the emplacements on the hill. 
By II o'clock in the morning the principal Russian batteries had been 
silenced. The two Russian field batteries then withdrew to Nanquan- 
ling hill, and from there continued to fire on the Japanese until night- 
fall. 

After the Russian batteries had been silenced the Japanese artillery 
opened on the enemy's trenches, the Japanese infantry advancing mean- 
while to within rifle range. The Japanese gradually worked to within 

* 
400 yards of the Russian lines, where they encountered wire and other 

entanglements. 

Every Man Shot Down. 

They succeeded in discovering an opening in these obstacles and 
getting finally to within 200 yards of the Russian trenches they rushed 
for the line. Several successive charges were made, but every officer 
and man in the attacking parties was shot down twenty or thirty yards 
from the line. 



THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 359 

The charges were then stopped and the Japanese artillery renewed 
its preparatory fire on the enemy's position. Towards evening a detach- 
ment of Japanese carried a section of the Russian trenches, breaking 
through the enemy's line. 

Hundreds of the comrades of these men, inspired by their success, 
sprang forward, and then the entire Japanese line swept up the hill, 
driving the Russians from their positions. It was in the desperate in- 
fantry charges that the Japanese sustained the bulk of their losses. 

The Russians Evacuate Dalny. 

On May 30 a large force of Japanese troops entered Dalny. The 
Russian barracks and warehouses, the railway and telegraph stations, 
and more than 100 buildings were uninjured. The Russians also left 
200 railway cars intact, which the Japanese were able to use. All the 
small railroad bridges, however, in the vicinity of the town were de- 
stroyed. The Russians demolished the largest pier, but all other docks 
and smaller piers were uninjured. Several steam launches were sunk 
at the entrance to the dock, but the harbor jetties were found to be 
intact. The Russians also destroyed the gunboat used at Talienwan 
against the Japanese left during the battle of Nanshan hill. It was 
very evident that the Russians fled quickly when Nanshan hill was 
lost, probably expecting that General Oku would immediately take 
possession of Dalny. 

Driving Home the Wedge. 

The following story of an eye-witness of the battle of Kinchou is 
a thrilling recital of unquestioning heroism on the part of the Japanese 
and dogged resistance on the side of the Russians: 

"Forty thousand Japanese were massed behind the western spur of 
Mount Sampson under such small cover as afforded by the twin peaks. 
The troops were within 2,000 yards of the Russian works. 

"There was so little room to deploy for attack that battalions of 
Japanese troops were obliged to stand in the sea waiting for the mo- 



36o THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 

ment of attack, exposed to a veritable inferno of fire from the Russian 
batteries. The shells plowed into their serried masses. 

Jap Artillery in Action. 

"Meantime battery after battery of Japanese guns went into action 
upon the Chilichwang and the Kauchiayan flats and a sustained gun- 
boat fire played upon the Russian works. Their line was fringed with 
bursting projectiles. 

"About midday the energy of the Russian defenders in the works 
in front of Mauchiaying village seemed exhausted by the gunboat fire. 
Two Japanese battalions appeared over the saddle between the twin 
peaks and made a desperate effort to carry the nearest Russian works, 

"At first the straggling walls of Mauchiaying gave them some cover 
and a moment's breathing space. Then the gallant little infantrymen 
crept on again up the slopes toward the Russian position. 

Avalanches of Bullets. 

"It was an impossible task. As yet the defenders had not been 
sufficiently shaken. An avalanche of concentrated fire from infantry 
in the trenches, machine guns in the Russian works, and quick firing 
field artillery in the supporting defenses struck the Japanese. They 
melted away from the glacis like solder before the flame of a blow- 
pipe. A few who seemed to have charmed lives struggled on until they 
reached the wire entanglements. 

Two Battalions Wiped Out. 

"It was in vain. Heroic effort was wasted. Within fifteen minutes 
these two battalions ceased to exist except as a trail of mutilated 
bodies at the foot of the Russian glacis. 

"Seeing the failure of this attack the gunboats and supporting artil- 
lery concentrated the whole of their fire upon the point where General 
Oku had determined to drive home his wedge, and by evening the 
works were practicable for an assault by a general who had such in- 



THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 361 

fantry as the Japanese and who was prepared to take the responsibility 
of such fearful losses, 

"It would seem as if the actual carrying of the works had been 
another Alma. The word was given for a bayonet attack. Then the 
whole Japanese front surged forward, and the moral balance went over 
to the side of the Japanese, the Russians retiring before them." 

The Japanese Lose 4,304 Men. 

The total of the Japanese casualties at the battle of Nanshan hill 
was 4,304, divided as follows: Thirty-one officers, including one major 
and five sergeant majors, and 713 noncommissioned officers and men 
killed; 100 officers, including one colonel, one major, and twelve sur- 
geon majors, and 3,460 noncommissioned officers and men wounded. 
The Russian losses in the fighting at Kinchou were officially stated to 
have been 30 officers and 800 men killed or wounded. 

Gen. Stoessel's report stated that the attack began on May 21 and 
culminated on the evening of May 26. The real fighting was practically 
confined to May 25 and 26, the Japanese remaining quiet the two pre- 
vious days. 

Gen. Stoessel's Report. 

"After a fierce battle lasting two days, I ordered our positions at 
Kinchou to be evacuated in the evening, for we had opposed to us at 
least three divisions with 120 guns. 

"The enemy's fire, particularly that from four gunboats and six 
torpedo boats, completely annihilated our batteries mounted at Kin- 
chou. The Fifth regiment, which was posted on this spot, stood its 
ground heroically. The fire of this regiment, as well as that of our 
batteries and the gunboat Bobr off Khounoueza, inflicted enormous 
losses on the Japanese. 

"Our losses amounted to thirty officers and 800 men killed or 
wounded. We blew up or damaged all our guns which the Japanese 
had not put out of action. It would have been inexpedient certainly 
to bring up siege artillery during the fierce fighting. 



362 THE BATTLE OF KINCHOU. 

"The battle of May 26 began at 5 a. fn. and lasted until 8 p. m., 
when I ordered the position evacuated gradually. The explosion of a 
number of our mines and fougades was rendered impossible by the 
Japanese, who turned our position immediately. The Japanese ad- 
vanced through water up to their waists under the protection of their 
ships." 

Gen. Stoessel's reported further, that owing to the absence of the 
support of warships against the Japanese artillery fire at the time of 
the final assault on the Russian positions on Nanshan hill during the 
evening of May 2(i he at 8 o'clock gave the order to blow up the guns 
and retire. The general stated that the order was only partly executed, 
as the enemy's flank movements necessitated promptness in retreat, 
which, he says, was carried out with great coolness, thus accounting 
for the smallness of the Russian losses. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 
THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN 

The Commander-in-Chief Arrives — His Journey from St. Petersburg — Japanese Movement 
Hidden — The Affair at Vagenfuchu — A Cossack Charge — ^Alexieff and Kouropatkin 
Fail to Agree — Mikado's Soldiers Worthy of Praise — Chinese Bandits. 

HE advance of the Japanese field forces to the banks of the Yalu 
and the reports of landing upon Manchurian territory shifted 
the center of interest still further northward and westward. The 
various centers of interest of the land movements have been in order of 
progression, Chemulpo and Seoul, Chinampo and Pingyang, Anju, 
Chong-ju, and, lastly, the Yalu. Then the area of interest shifted 
across the great plain, at the edge of which lay historic Mukden, from 
which General Kouropatkin had been directing the Russian prepara- 
tions, Liaoyang, Haichong, and other Chinese towns of varying im- 
portance. All this ground was fought over by the Japanese troops 
during the China-Japanese War of 1894-5, so that it is of extreme 
interest to follow the movements of that campaign. 

The Japanese Routes in 1894. 

The chief route then taken by the Japanese was from Antung 
through Siuyen to Haichong, south of Liaoyang. In the campaign of 
1894-5 the Japanese held these hills against a great host of Chinese. 
To reach this position the Japanese third division set out from Antung 
on December 3, 1894, and crossed the intervening mountains by way 
of Siuyen and Si-mu-cheng, reaching Haichong in ten days. The roads 
then were frozen hard; the sloppy conditions at present prevailing 
would probably prevent such a record being again repeated. General 
Katsura, who later became Prime Minister, had at the same time a 
force operating on his right at Fengwangchang in the direction of the 
Motien pass. 

General Kouropatkin reached Mukden, the base of future opera- 

363 



364 THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN. 

tions against the invading Japanese army, on Friday, March 25. An 
account of his journey thither from St. Petersburg along the Great 
Siberian railway, which lasted some fourteen days, may be of interest. 
All along the route he was greeted with the most marked enthusiasm, 
as the Russians firmly believe in his ability and that his presence in 
command of the Manchurian army will go a long way towards the 
eventual success of the Russian arms in the campaign which is now 
about to begin. 

Goodbye to St. Petersburg and Moscow. 

He left St. Petersburg at 6 p. m. on Saturday, March 12. Previous 
to starting he was presented by the Czar with a magnificent iron-grey 
charger, a thoroughbred from his Majesty's own stables. General 
Kouropatkin received a most hearty send-off from thousands of spec- 
tators, many of whom presented him wth ikons and other holy relics. 
He reached Moscow early on Monday morning and left the same 
evening. His departure from Moscow station will long be remembered 
by those who witnessed it. The platforms were crowded, and so indeed 
were all the streets in the neighborhood of the station. The general, 
who wore the Order of St. George, recently presented to him by the 
Czar, was accompanied by his staff and Colonel Gavrielitz, who was in 
charge of the new armor train. This train, which was to form the head- 
quarters of the general during the forthcoming operations in Manchuria, 
consisted only of three carriages — one for his own personal use, one 
for the use of the staff, whilst the remaining coach was used as a 
dining-car. Both the engine and carriages were bullet-proof, and the 
train was the work of a Russian firm of engineers at Moscow, It was 
modelled on the same plan as the armor trains which were used in 
South Africa. On the platform to bid farewell to the general were 
collected all the civil and military dignitaries of the town, including the 
governor of Moscow. 

A Grodspeed. 

An interesting feature of the occasi©n was the presentation by 
Prince Trubetzki to General Kouropatkin of a white standard which 



THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN. 365 

bore the inscription, "God be with you," and "The Lord preserves His 
Own," whilst the words, "To the Commander of the Manchurian Army, 
Adjutant-General Kouropatkin," were engraved on the woodwork. The 
prince made a short speech as follows : "Alexis Nicholievich, all Mos- 
cow is assembled this evening to bid you farewell ; you carry with you 
our prayers and best wishes for your success. Without doubt the 
enemy you are about to encounter is no mean foe, but they will not 
prevail against the might of Russia. We gladly entrust to you our 
forces in the Far East, to you who on so many occasions have made 
your name famous in the annals of war. We are confident that you 
will lead our troops to victory, and in bidding you farewell we commend 
you to God's protection." The speech was received with tremendous 
applause, and shouts of "Kouropatkin" and cheers for his brave army 
resounded on all sides. In replying to the prince's speech the general 
spoke as follows : "Russia has passed through far greater trials than 
those which she is to-day encountering, but in the end she has always 
emerged victorious. Without minimizing our difficulties or disparag- 
ing our foes, surely we may trust that in this war success will attend 
our arms. There is already a large force in the Far East, but should 
it prove insufficient our resources are large, and we are confident of 
ultimate success. We will spare neither blood nor money, all must be 
sacrificed for the Emperor and our Fatherland. I will convey your 
good wishes to the Manchurian army and will now only ask you to 
await with patience and fortitude the events of the next few months in 
the full assurance that Holy Russia will in this war, unsought by her, 
confirm her prestige in the eyes of the world." Twenty-five thousand 
roubles were then handed over to the general towards the funds for 
first aid to the wounded, and shortly afterwards the train left Moscow. 

The Church's Blessing. 

Toula was reached on the next day without incident except for the 
large crowds which collected at the station to bid the general godspeed. 
On reaching Zlatust, close by the Ural mountains, a special reception 
waited the general. It was taken by many as a good omen that for the 



366 THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN. 

time of year the weather was war;m and springlike and the sun was 
shining brightly. As before, thousands of people, peasantry and 
cfifiicials, pressed forward to catch a glimpse of the general. The clergy 
in the beautiful robes of the Greek Church were also assembled on the 
platform and a short religious service was held, the general kneeling 
to receive the blessing. 

A magnificent ikon was presented him by the municipality and the 
general and his staff partook of bread and salt, which is a well-known 
national custom on important occasions. Before leaving, the inhabi- 
tants of the mountain district gave their offering — a sword of beautiful 
workmanship. The general seemed much touched by the gift and made 
a short and feeling speech, addressing his audience as "pravo-slavnie," 
a term seldom used towards subordinates in autocratic Russia. 

In Asiatic Russia. 

At Ufa an address was read to General Kouropatkin, and the citizens 
further presented him with an ornament of jewelry, a species of charm 
which is worn by many Russians round their necks. It would be 
tedious to individualize the various stations and halting places where 
the train touched, at all of which the general met with the same recep- 
tion, and in many cases large sums of money were entrusted to him for 
the use of the sick and wounded. 

At Irkutsk, where the general halted for a few hours, 12,000 roubles 
were given to hi mfor the same purpose. Here he was met by the 
governor-general of the province, Count Kutosov, who had a short 
conversation with him, and on the morning of the 20th the journey was 
continued to Lake Baikal, which was reached about mid-day. Here th'e 
general alighted, and he and his staff proceeded by sledge across Lake 
Baikal to Tankoi. The train was dragged more slowly across the lake, 
use being made of the rails which had been laid down over the ice. 
After leaving Tankoi, the journey was continued and Chita was reached 
on the 22d at 5 o'clock in the evening. The general arrived at Mukden 
early on the morning of the 25th. He at once proceeded to confer with 



THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN. 367 

Admiral Alexieff, and later on left for Liao-yang, where he took over 
the formal command of the Manchurian army from General Linievich. 
A review of the troops was held soon after his arrival, the general 
making a close and careful inspection of all arms. 

The Skirmish at Vagenfuchu. 

On the morning of May 30 the Russian cavalry opened fire near the 
railroad station of Vagenfuchu, near Vafangow, against an advancing 
Japanese force, consisting of eight companies of infantry, eight squad- 
rons of cavalry, and four machine guns. During the ensuing battle the 
Russians attacked a Japanese squadron on the enemy's left flank, after 
which they attacked the infantry, but retired under the fire of machine 
guns. The advance of the Japanese infantry on the Russian left flank 
was stopped by the fire of the latter's battery, which inflicted con- 
siderable loss on the enemy. 

General Sakharofr, in his offiicial account of the action, reported the 
Russian losses at seventeen men killed and twenty-three wounded. 
The Japanese losses were considerable. One squadron of the Thirteenth 
Japanese cavalry was almost annihilated in a hand-to-hand encounter, 
and another squadron, which came to its assistance, suffered great loss 
from the fire of the Russian frontier guards and riflemen. 

The Russians began the battle at 8 o'clock in the morning, and 
after two hours and a half long range firing the Japanese, under Gen. 
Akkiama, prepared to charge and crush the force which had been 
harassing them for several days. In the meantime Gen. Samsonofif 
was approaching Vagenfuchu with a strong force of cavalry. It was 
a sight worth seeing, when at the word of command the Russian squad- 
rons formed and rushed like a whirlwind across the terribly cut-up 
country, clearing away all obstacles, the batteries at the same time 
trotting along the frightful roads. Having passed the railroad station 
the troops carhe under the fire of the Japanese machine guns, but 
withdrew without suffering much loss. 



368 THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN. 

Furious Charge by Cossacks. 

The Fourth and Sixth companies of the Eighth Siberian Cossacks 
furiously charged the Japanese cavalry with lances, attacking both 
flanks. In a few minutes they had nearly cut the whole squadron into 
pieces. In some cases the lances pierced the riders through and 
wounded their horses. Some of the lances could not be withdrawn from 
the bodies into which they had entered. 

The Japanese troops attempted to advance, but the Russian bat- 
teries opened fire, and soon the slope up which the enemy was advanc- 
ing was covered with black spots, and the latter was forced to scatter 
and retire. Some of the Japanese cavalry were wonderfully dashing, 
charging with shouts upon the Russians, who met and scattered them. 
A Cossack who had lost his lance and sword wrenched a swo'rd from 
a Japanese officer and cut off the latter's head. 

A Russian who was wounded in the fight said that a cornet of the 
frontier guards was the hero of the fight. His sergeant was lying 
wounded and a Japanese officer was about to ride over him when the 
cornet unhorsed the Japanese, mounted the latter's horse, and placed 
the wounded man on his own charger. The Japanese cavalry engaged 
was the Thirteenth regiment. Their horses were splendid animals. 

The Curtain Down on the War. 

During the early days of June there was considerable talk of an 
important Russian move southward from Liaoyang. An unofficial tele- 
gram from Russian headquarters at Mukden, dated June i, stated that 
the Russian commander-in-chief was in a position to begin offensive 
operations on an important scale. The lively skirmish at Vafangow 
apparently was the opening action by a force sent by Gen. Kouropatkin 
to relieve Port Arthur, or to create a diversion in favor of its garrison. 
This force consisted of 14,000 artillery, cavalry and infantry, under 
Gen. Stakelberg, who left Liaoyang, with Wanfangtien as his imme- 
diate objective, probably for the purpose of attacking Gen. Oku's rear. 

Meanwhile the Japanese operations between Kinchou and Port 



THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN. 369 

Arthur were screened with the customary secrecy. Such few reports 
as came in reference to their doings since the battle at Nanshan hill 
were based on rumor or supposition. It was assumed, from unofficial 
reports of the stream of troops the Japanese were still sending out, 
that Gen. Oku would be given an overwhelming force to enable him to 
act independently of Gen. Kuroki, who also was believed to be receiv- 
ing a considerable proportion of reinforcement. 

Troops Leave Japan Daily. 

Although over 200,000 men, more than 400 guns, thousands of 
horses and wagons, and tons of supplies left Japan during March, April 
and May, there was not the slightest sign of a reduction in the rate 
of the exodus. Transports left the western port daily, each carrying an 
average of 1,000 men. 

There was every indication that this rate could be maintained for 
months. The distances comparatively were so short that the number 
of transports required was not large, while the available troops, includ- 
ing the reserves, were far from exhausted. The work went on without 
a hitch. Every detachment took its own quota of guns, ammunition 
and stores. 

Mines Around Liaoyang. 

Meanwhile the Russians completed eleven fortresses at Liaoyang 
and laid mines within a radius of 5,000 feet from the town. Gen. 
Kouropatkin's strategy aimed at checking by every means the Jap- 
anese approach to Liaoyang and northward to Mukden. 

The Chinese army, at Admiral AlexiefT's request, engaged to stop 
the constant activity of the bandits against the Russians. The Rus- 
sians withdrew all Cossack outposts west of the Liao river, owing to 
the hostility of the bandits, which, it is alleged, embraced the design 
to cut the railway north of Mukden. 

It was stated at this time that the taking of Kinchou and the march 
of the Japanese on Port Arthur increased the misunderstanding be- 
tween Viceroy Alexieff and Gen. Kouropatkin. The former, who had 



3J70 THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN. 

never seen active service, desired Gen. Kouropatkin to march his army 
to the relief of Port Arthur, but Kouropatkin insisted he should wait for 
reinforcements. As a consequence there was a discussion between them 
when they met at Mukden. 

The Leaders Disagree. 

Alexieff insisted on the necessity of saving Port Arthur so as to 
keep a base for the fleet and obviate the fatal blow its capture would 
inflict on Russian prestige. He pointed out that after the way in 
which the Japanese had taken Kinchou there was no guaranteeing they 
would not sacrifice an enormous number of men to take Port Arthur, 
so the Russian armies, therefore, should go to its relief. On the other 
hand. Gen. Kouropatkin argued that the Russian forces at Liaoyang 
were not strong enough for a forward movement, having Kuroki in his 
front and the Japanese army under General Oku between him and 
Port Arthur. 

Meanwhile every effort on the part of the Russians to communicate 
with the southern part of the Liaotung peninsula resulted in failure. 
The Japanese were in control of all avenues of communication and they 
allowed no messages to pass. 

A Russian officer of high rank, speaking of General Kouropatkin 
at this time, said: 

"He is awakening to the fact that the Japanese are worthy of praise. 
He declares that their recent operations prove them to be among the 
greatest strategists in the world, and to this must be added great daring, 
capacity for work and ability to stand punishment. The general did 
not believe this before, but now it has been demonstrated." 

Facts About the Chunchuses. 

The Chinese bandits, mention of whom has just been made, are the 
curse of Manchuria. These Chunchuses — the word is a corruption of 
the Chinese "Hung Hutzu" (Red Beards) — have preyed on Man- 
churian merchants for many years, deriving their living from gold- 
washing and occasional raids, together with a system known as brigand 



THE CAMPAIGN ABOUT MUKDEN. 371 

insurance. The suppression of these brigands has been one of the great 
poHcies of Russian administration ; but, strange to say, great divergence 
of opinion exists as to its real value. 

A celebrated writer, who knows the country well, says that in all 
the principal towns offices existed where the carters or bean boat skip- 
pers could purchase immunity, the outward and visible sign of which 
consisted of a small triangular flag, which insured the carrier, cart, or 
boat against molestation or pillage. Though theoretically reprehen- 
sible, in practice this system worked admirably, as the premium paid 
was not at all prohibitive. The Russians, by their expeditions against 
the brigands, who galled them rather severely, split up these united 
bands into several lesser sections, and without diminishing their num- 
bers destroyed in a great measure their organization, with the result 
that the carters and bean boat skippers, unable to purchase immunity 
— the flag of one section being unrecognized by the others — could no 
longer ply their trade with the same degree of safety or, in fact, any 
safety at all. Accordingly both produce and lightstuff were prevented 
from coming forward in the usual quantities, the entire trade of the 
province being disturbed. It will be readily seen that this in its turn 
helped to swell the ranks of the disorganized robbers as, cut off from 
the legitimate exercise of their calling, the impoverished agriculturists 
and carriers had to become the preyers or the prey, the majority throw- 
ing in their lot with the former as yielding better returns. 

The same authority says : "It is dangerous to meddle with old- 
established customs in China, and many of the Chinese modes of pro- 
cedure, theoretically incorrect though they be, are peculiarly adapted 
to the conditions prevaiHng. In the time of the China-Japan War these 
Hung Hutzu bands offered the Japanese the most obstinate resistance 
they met with in the province. It will be a matter for surprise if in 
the present war they do not materially contribute to the many dif- 
ficulties with which the Russian forces will find themselves confronted 
in operating in an intensely inimical country." 



CHAPTER XXX. 
CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE 

An Out-post Battle — Capture of Saimatze — Advance of the Japanese Army — The Fighting 
around Siuyen — The Battle of Vafangow — Thrilling Description by Eye Witness — 
Mountain Passes Captured. 

THE Russian force sent to the relief of Port Arthur was checked 
by a severe outpost fight twenty-five miles north of Kinchou. 
The Russians held their position, but the fact that their advance was 
checked proved that the Japanese held the roads south with superior 
numbers and that nothing less than an advance in force of General 
Kouropatkin's main army would serve to relieve the pressure on Port 
Arthur. The skirmish above recorded took place June 3, about eigh- 
teen miles from General Kouropatkin's headquarters at Fengwangcheng 
and east of Vafangow. 

Details of the Fighting. 

The Russian force consisted of an infantry regiment, some artillery, 
several companies of Cossacks, and a squad of dragoons. The enemy 
was discovered in the valley of Pwytsiantou. The Russians brought 
up a battery, opened fire, and cleared the Japanese out of the valley. 
Then the Russian guns were moved to a move favorable position. The 
Japanese, taking advantage of this, fired a few shells. The Russian 
losses were Colonel Sereda and seventeen men wounded. Both sides 
retained their positions. 

The other fight was between Major General Mistchenko's Cossacks 
and the Japanese advance posts along the river Kolendzy, north of 
Takusan. It lasted from the evening of June 3 till late the following 
day. 

A company of Cossacks then tried to cut of¥ a detachment of 

372 



CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 373 

Japanese posted on the heights of Ladziapudsy, but the enemy brought 
up reinforcements and the Russians were reinforced by five companies 
of Cossacks. 

Finally 3,000 Japanese were engaged, including artillery. The Cos- 
sacks repeatedly drove the enemy from their entrenchments. In one 
case the Japanese fled across the river, but returned with more re- 
inforcements and the Russians drew off. The Cossacks' commander, 
Colonel Starkoff, was killed and two officers and nine men were 
wounded. The Cossacks carried the body of their commander to 
Siuyen. 

The Russian Account. 

- Reporting on this skirmish, General Kouropatkin, in a dispatch to 
the war office, said: 

"Our Cossacks were fired upon by Japanese infantry occupying a 
fortified position on the heights near of the village of Khotsiaputse, 
eighteen miles from Fengwangcheng. 

"The Cossacks dismounted, and, with the aid of reinforcements 
and the fire of two guns, forced the Japanese to abandon their position 
and retire under cover of their supports. The engagement lasted from 
I p. m. until 6 p. m. 

"On the Japanese side six companies took part, four havmg ar- 
rived as reinforcements. The intrenchments of the enemy were well 
constructed and perfectly masked. 

"Our cavalry worked the guns admirably. Their fire contributed 
principally to our success. Our losses were the gallant Cossack Chief 
Starkofif killed, two officers slightly wounded and two bruised. The 
Japanese losses were not ascertained, except that they were larger 
than ours." 

Another Version of the Battle. 

According to one of the correspondents with the Russian army, the 
fight in the valley of Pwytsiantou took place in an immense amphithe- 
atre in the hills. The Russian commander threw forward skirmshers 
to feel out the Japanese positions. The Cossacks and dragoons crept 



374 CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 

forward, examining the steep hillsides, deep ravines, and dry water 
courses likely to protect Japanese ambuscades. 

Finally, the Japanese fire on the crest of the hills located them and 
the assailants swarmed up almost inaccessible cliffs. The Japanese 
first kept in the shelter of the rocks, but the Russian fire searched 
them out and they flitted shadowlike across the rocks as the Cossacks 
continued to advance, while the dragoons cleared the valleys leading 
from the amphitheatre. The Japanese cavalry retreated, unwilling 
to risk a collision at close quarters. 

The Russian line encircled one great hill on which was the prin- 
cipal Japanese position, and like a living ribbon, crept forward toward 
the summit. Colonel Sereda led the advance until he fell wounded 
half way up the clifTs. The command devolved upon Lieutenant Col- 
onel Chicsville, who continued the forward movement, clearing the 
Japanese from the heights. 

In the meantime a Russian battery placed an accurate shrapnel 
fire among the hilltops, hastening the Japanese retreat. Two Japanese 
sharpshooters on the summit of a hill seriously annoyed the Russians 
at a critical period of the advance. An officer of Terileski's company 
scaled the rocks in the face of almost certain death and killed both the 
Japanese, returning unharmed. 

The Capture of Saimatze. 

On June 8th, General Kouropatkin, in a telegram to the Czar, ad- 
mitted that his troops had been driven out of Saimatze with a loss of 
100 men killed or wounded. This news attracted but little attention. 
All of official Russia had eyes and ears only for Port Arthur. It was 
generally believed that the Russian Gibraltar was making its last des- 
perate fight against capture. 

Few in St. Petersburg effected to believe that Port Arthur could 
either defend itself or be relieved. 

General Kouropatkin again telegraphed to the Emperor as follows : 

"A Japanese brigade attacked a Russian detachment occupying 
Saimatze on June 7. The Russians retired slowly because of the ene- 



CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 375 

my's great superiority toward Fenchulin pass. Our losses were two 
officers wounded and 100 soldiers killed or wounded. 

According to a Liaoyang dispatch the fight was a stubborn one. The 
Russian force was commanded by General Erhoff, who engaged the 
Japanese advance. The Russian infantry advanced steadily, pushing 
the Japanese from their position, but their attack gradually developed 
strength and the Russians, finding themselves in the presence of an 
overwhelming force, retired in good order. Their losses were three 
officers and about 100 men killed or wounded. Russian observers 
thought the Japanese lost more. 

Movements of Japanese Armies. 

In another dispatch General Kouropatkin gives the following details 
of the movements of the Japanese armies : 

"Japanese troops are concentrating southward with a front extend- 
ing more than ten miles from Pulantien to Fangtsiatung, in the valley 
of Tassakho. 

"A Japanese force of two companies of infantry and a squadron of 
cavalry advanced on June 7, northward from Fengwangcheng, into the 
Tafanhung district, driving in the Cossack outposts, A detachment of 
chasseurs and a company of infantry hastened from Ualindi to aid the 
Cossacks. The Japanese abandoned their attack, having lost one offi- 
cer and a noncommissioned officer captured and several men killed. We 
had no casualities." 

Mikado's Army Begins Advance. 

On June 9, the situation was as follows: Japanese armies were 
advancing in force on Liaoyang by four roads, the Russians retreating 
at all points, Japanese troops had occupied Siuyen, and were pursuing 
the Russians along the road to Haicheng, The Japanese had, as stated, 
occupied Saimatze, north of Fengwangcheng, 

General Kuroki reported that a detachment of Japanese troops had 
routed a battalion of Russian infantry with two guns at Haimachi, the 
Japanese losing three men killed and twenty-four wounded. The Japan- 



376 CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 

ese captured two officers and five men. The Russians left on the field 
twenty-three men dead or wounded and probably lost seventy men. 

A Japanese detachment dispatched in the direction of Tungyuanpu 
repulsed sixty or seventy of the enemy's infantry at Linchatai and en- 
countered six companies of Russian infantry and 300 cavalry at Chan- 
chiahsi. 

Drive the Russians Away. 

After a two hours' engagement the Japanese drove the Russians 
off in the direction of Tungyuanpu. The Russian casualities were sev- 
enty or eighty men killed or wounded. The Japanese lost four men 
killed and sixteen men wounded. 

On June 8, a Japanese detachment co-operating with another de- 
tachment from the force landed at Takushan, encountered a Russian 
force of 4,000 cavalry, with six guns, near Siuyen, and drove them back 
towards Kaichou, losing thirteen killed and two officers and twenty- 
eight men wounded. 

A dispatch from Mukden, dated June 10, stated that General Kuroki 
had begun his forward movement, that the Japanese had occupied Siu- 
yen and Russian scouts had discovered the Japanese in considerable 
force on the roads leading toward Haicheng and Liaoyang. 

The Battle of Siuyen. 

General Kouropatkin telegraphed to the Emperor the following de- 
tails of the fighting around Siuyen : 

"June 7 the Japanese slowly continued their march toward Siuyen 
by the Takushan and Fengwangcheng roads. Their' advance guard 
did not approach nearer than five miles south and east of Siuyen. On 
the morning of June 8 a Japanese infantry brigade, two mountain bat- 
teries, and five squadrons of cavalry marched against Siuyen. About 
II o'clock the Japanese appeared before the town on the south side, 
but were checked by a successful fire from our batteries. 

Cossacks Compelled to Retire. 

"Japanese infantry then began advancing against the town from 
the east by the Fengwangcheng road, and came in contact with the 



CHECKIxNG THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 377 

Cossacks holding the pass. After two hours' fighting the Cossacks 
were obhged to retire and our artillery opened fire along the pass, not 
allowing the Japanese to establish themselves. 

"At this moment a Japanese mountain battery arrived and took a 
position to the south, but after firing a few rounds was silenced by our 
battery. A second Japanese battery did not succeed in getting into 
action, but was compelled to evacuate its position under the fire of our 
guns. 

"In the course of the fight a flanking movement by several battalions 
of Japanese infantry was observed northeast of Siuyen, threatening our 
Ime of retreat. Consequently, our Cossacks gradually withdrew five 
miles from Siuyen, keeping up their fire from a battery on a dense col- 
umn of the enemy at a range of 600 yards. 

"The fire slackened about 5 in the afternoon. Among our losses 
were Cheremissineff, chief of Cossacks, Cornet Komarovski, and Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Possokhoff. To all appearances the Cossacks were en- 
gaged with troops of the Tenth division. 

Tells of Saimatze Capture. 

General Kouropatkin also sent the following additonal details of the 
fighting at Saimatze : 

"On June 7 at 6 a. m. an outpost company on the Aivang road was 
attacked by the enmy. A detachment of chasseurs was sent as a rein- 
forcement. More Japanese then appeared, one battalion with a moun- 
tain battery positioned before Saimatze. 

"The chasseurs at first pressed the Japanese, inflicting losses and 
taking rifles and equipment from the killed, but the advance was checked 
by a severe fire. Reinforcements now joined the enemy, bringing up 
their strength to a brigade of infantry, two batteries of artillery, and 
three squadrons of cavalry. Thereupon the commander of our detach- 
ment ordered a retreat towards Fenchulin pass. 

"The detachment withdrew slowly and in good order, holding suc- 
cessive positions. Our wounded included Captain Makharofif and Lieu- 
tenant Ronjitski. Both ofificers, however, remained in the ranks. About 



378 CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 

loo men were killed and wounded. The enemy suffered severly. Ac- 
coutrements taken from the Japanese dead show that thy belonged 
to the Twelfth Division." 

The Battle of Telissu. 

On June 15, the Russian army under General Stackelberg attacked 
the Japanese forces under General Oku at Telissu or Vafangow and 
suffered a disastrous defeat. In his official report of the affair, the 
Japanese general said that the Russians began the fight with 25 bat- 
talions of infantry, 17 squadrons of cavalry, and 98 guns. They were 
reinforced several times, but the number of reinforcements was not 
known. Seven Russian ^officers and 300 men were taken prisoners. 
The Japanese casualities amounted to about 900 men, including eight 
ofBcers killed and fourteen wounded. The total Russian losses were 
about 3,000. 

Like Nanshan Hill. 

There is a strong similarity between the battle of Nanshan Hill, 
also won by General Oku, and the one at Telissu. At Telissu the 
Japanese had to drive the Russians from the hills, while at Nanshan 
the enemy occupied one hill. The Russian position at Telissu was 
superior to that of the Japanese and equalized the advantage of the 
Japanese in having a larger force. 

The Russian position extended from east to west and crossed the 
narrow valley through which run the Foochou river and the railway. 
From their positions on the right and left in the high hills which flank 
this valley General Oku drove the Russians down into the valley. The 
Japanese general carried first the enemy's right and then his left. 

The fight at the left of his line was the most desperate of the day. 
The Russians held this position with desperate determination, and only 
lied when they were almost completely enveloped. The field had been 
disputed all day, and when the Japanese reached it 600 of the enemy's 
dead Vv^ere found there. 



CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 379 

How Jap Advance Began. 

General Oku started from a line marked by Pulandien, and the Tassa 
river on Monday, June 13. His right cohimn moved along the Tassa 
river, his main column along the railroad, and his left column by a road 
leading through Wuchiatun, Suchuankon, and Tahoai. 

The Japanese cavalry started from Pitsewo over a road leading 
through Shunzo, and the small bodies of Russians opposing this advance 
were brushed away. The left column reached Nachialing on June 14, 
and the main, or middle, column, and the right column, keeping in touch 
with each other, reached g, line between Chiachiatun and Tapingkou, 
seven and a half miles south of Telissu, the same day. 

Opens With Artillery Duel. 

The Russian forces then held a line between Tafangshen and Lung- 
wangtiao. The entire Japanese line advanced and at 3 o'clock in the 
afternoon the Japanese artillery opened fire. The Russians had ninety- 
eight guns and they replied with spirit until darkness put an end to the 
artillery duel. 

During the night of the 14th, under cover of darkness, the Japanese 
right column seized a hill between Tsongchiotun and Wengchiantung 
and the middle column occupied a hill to the west of Tapingkou. 

Wednesday morning was foggy. The Japanese center's artillery 
opened at 5 130 a fierce duel with the Russian left center, north of the 
Foochou river. After fierce fighting the Russians were compelled to 
fall back slightly. 

Japs Storm the Heights. 

Meanwhile a detachment of infantry and artillery had been hasten- 
ing since dawn along the Foochou road. At 9:30 o'clock this detach- 
ment occupied the heights west of the Japanese left center, and co- 
operating with it despite a galling cannonade from the Russian heights, 
charged through the defiles and scaled the hills, driving the Russians 
from their position at Tafangshen. 

While this movement was being carried out the Russians fiercel)^ 



38o CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 

attacked the Japanese right. It was necessary to reinforce the Japanese 
right twice from the reserves. 

In the meantime the Japanese right was suffering. The Russian 
left had been reinforced until their numbers were greater than the op- 
posing Japanese. General Oku was twice forced to order up the in- 
fantry reserves. 

The Russians made a series of desperate counter attacks, but when 
the situation was most critical the Japanese cavalry swung around the 
Russian left and struck the enemy on the flank. 

At this time additional Russian reinforcements had arrived and the 
Russians held their position with dogged determination until their 
front and both flanks were under fire. They then broke and fled. The 
Japanese cavalry pursued the enemy for a short time, but the rough- 
ness of the country made it necessary soon to abandon the pursuit. 

The Japanese left succeeded in ambushing 900 Russian infantrymen, 
who were discovered retiring toward Wuchiatun. They sent two com- 
panies of infantry and one battery of artillery to a hill east of Hongchia- 
tun, and the Russians were completely trapped. Many of the enemy at 
this point were killed or wounded. 

The Russians left 600 dead and wounded in front of the Japanese 
right. Russian prisoners report that the commander of their first divi- 
sion was seriously wounded and the commander of the first regiment 
killed. They also state that the commander of the army corps and 
of the second and third regiments were wounded. 

Russian Story of the Battle. 

Further details of the fighting showed that the Russian advance 
on the Japanese position, when it was hoped that General Stackelberg 
would drive back the Japanese army, was a most brilliant affair. 

Soon after dawn the Japanese were discovered in strong force on a 
hill north of Dyaiwo. The infantry was well intrenched and supported 
by artillery. 

Then the Russian left was thrown forward with reserves to clear the 
hill. They had a little over a mile of open country to cross, their only 



CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 381 

cover being two small hills and two shallow valleys. The Japanese con- 
centrated a deadly fire as soon as the Russians reached the open. 

The Russians formed in open order and rushed from point to point, 
taking advantage of every depression in the ground, dropping and firing, 
then advancing again, until they gained a hill where they halted for a 
breathing space. 

Deadly Japanese Shrapnel. 

Over the hill the Japanese threw shrapnel which burst with deadly 
effect. Some squadrons had every officer killed and half their men 
wounded. 

In spite of the terrible punishment inflicted, one regiment gained 
the hill where the Japanese were intrenched. The sixth company of 
the Third regiment got a rain of shells and shrapnel, concentrated there 
by the Japanese batteries. 

The Japanese heavy guns silenced the artillery supporting the Rus- 
sian attack. Thirteen Russian guns were smashed to atoms and their 
horses killed. A majority of their gunners were killed or wounded. 
The guns were useless to the Japanese, as they were literally shot to 
pieces before they were abandoned. The remainder of the artillery 
retired to Vafangow. 

The Japanese at this moment delivered their main attack. A whole 
division was thrown against the Russian center and two divisions around 
the right flank. 

The hard pressed right held out until 11 o'clock in the morning, 
when two regiments rushed to its assistance. 

The whole force then advanced to within twenty paces of the Japan- 
ese intrenchments. They lost all their ofUcers and half of the men. 
Captain Hasken was the last to fall. He was shot through the stomach. 

The men lay panting under the Japanese trenches and out of range 
of their fire. The Japanese raised themselves over the trenches and 
fired, the Russians greeting the hail of shots with chaff, and the Jap- 
anese, angry at their inability to dislodge the attackers, threw stones 
at them. 



382 CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 

Fighting Hand to Hand. 

The battle then became a hand to hand fight with stones and gun 
butts, and the remainder of the Russians, taking advantage of this 
diversion, gained the shelter of a neighboring ravine, but were unable 
to hold the position in the face of the cheering and actually rolled back 
the Japanese advance, but General Nodzu poured in fresh troops, regi- 
ment after regiment. The Russian commander saw that he was being 
enveloped and rallied his reserves and retired in order. 

A correspondent who was present at the battle of Vafangow de- 
scribed the fighting as follows : 

"The stern, dogged fighting at the battle of Vafangow was like an- 
other Borodino. The roar of the machine guns and the boom of the 
cannon still ring in one's ears. 

"Throughout the three days of combat the officers and men vied 
with each other in pluck and heroism. They have added a glorious 
page to Russia's military history. 

"The enemy's advance originally included the Fifth, Eighth, and 
Eleventh divisions, twelve squadrons of cavalry, and splendid artillery. 

Japs Had 200 Guns. 

"About 200 guns were belching a continuous stream of shot and 
shell. Large reinforcements enabled them to turn the Russian flanks. 
A diversion on the right precipitated the battle in the morning of 
June 15. 

"Major General Gerngross, who was wounded, commanded the left 
flank, and Gexieral Loutchkovsky commanded the center, including four 
battalions concealed in a small wood, whence they dealt death and 
destruction on the enemy. The Russian right was protected by Cos- 
sacks, dragoons, and Siberian rifles. 

"While these big guns were thundering I made my way at about il 
o'clock a. m. to the Russian right flank and climbed a hill, whence I 
could view the whole field of battle. 

"Then black lines of infantry like thread could be seen creeping 



CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 383 

through tne verdure. Nearer, the slope of a hill was dotted by the gray- 
shirts of the Russian riflemen. A brownish smoke overhung some of 
the batteries and others showed flashes of flame. The crackle of rifle 
fire was punctuated by the roar of guns. Occasionally I heard the hiss 
of a Japanese bullet. 

"I saw reserves hurrying forward, the Cossacks galloping, followed 
by columns of infantry at the double. Suddenly they disappeared in 
an adjacent defile. The, valley where the Russians had camped was 
emptied as if by magic. Rattling volleys were fired behind the screen 
of hills which concealed the fighting troops from view in that direction, 
the sound of the firing being the only evidence of the deadly struggle 
proceeding there. This continued for half an hour. 

Cossacks Lead Russian Retreat. 

"Suddenly a company of Cossacks appeared on the crest of a hill 
and began to descend. They were followed by infantry. The Japanese 
gunners promptly pursued them with shrapnel. Horses and men began 
falling. 

"A moment of harrowing suspense was relieved by a thunderous 
shout of 'Hurrah !' 

"It was from a couple of thousand of Russian troops just brought 
up by a train. They quickly jumped from the cars, fixed bayonets, 
and literally ran into the fight. 

"Again the crackle of musketry under cover, during which the re- 
tiring Russian regiments formed up and moved off in complete order 
toward the railroad. While a long line of commissariat wagons, es- 
corted by Cossacks, took to the road a battery of horse artillery sta- 
tioned near the railroad banged away furiously as it covered the retreat. 
The Japanese shells were falling on the station buildings, from which 
train after train had moved. 

Main Russian Army Withdraws. 

"I descended the hill and just succeeded in jumping on the footboard 
of the last car. Some of the Russian batteries on the left flank were 



384 CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 

still firing. The main force then began slowly to retreat towards Van- 
tsialin, thirty miles north of Vafangow, and at about i o'clock in the 
afternoon had accomplished its strategic mission. The battle of Vafan- 
gow had deflected a considerable Japanese force from Port Arthur. 

"Many Russians have fallen, but a greater number of Japanese were 
killed. The Russian shells and bullets mowed them down like wheat. 
The whole valley was bestrewn with the corpses and the River Tassa 
ran red. But it was with Japanese more than with Russian blood." 

Russians Nearly Trapped. 

According to military experts the forces of General Kouropatkin 
were now hopelessly entangled in the meshes of Japanese strategy. The 
General took the field in person to lead the main part of his troops 
against the army advancing upon Liaoyang from the south. On his 
front Kouropatkin faced twelve divisions of Japanese troops — 144,000 
men — on his left, another army occupied Kuandiansian with at least 
eighteen guns; this point is located northeast of Liaoyang. Kouro- 
patkin was thus forced against his inclination to fight nearly all of his 
army against a superior force on his front and another on his flank. 
The announcement at Tokio that Field Marshal Oyama had been ap- 
pointed to the supreme command of all the Japanese armies with Gen- 
eral Kodama as his chief of staff, indicated that the months of prepara- 
tion had ended and the real campaign was about to begin. 

On June 23, General Kouropatkin notified the Emperor that the 
Japanese army was advancing on Kaichou in force and that the enemy 
had occupied Kuandiansian and Sapenhai, and that they held Senuchen, 
on the road to Kaichou, with more than a division of infantry, a brigade 
of artillery and 32 guns. The Japanese having occupied Siungyoshan 
were within 25 miles of Kaichou. , General Kouropatkin's official report 
to the Czar, with dispatches from General Sakharoff, follows: 

"A Japanese army from Kaichou is gradually advancing northward. 
General Kuroki's advance from Siuyen has been suspended, evidently 
to effect an alignment cf the two armies. 

"The strength of the enem5^'s vanguard is approximately a division 




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THE COSSACK LANCE 

A troop of Siberian Cossacks charged the Japanese h"ne at Vagenfuchu with lances, 
attacking both flanks. It was a sight wortli seeing, when, at the word of^ command the 
Russian squadron dashed furiously against the Japanese troops, but hke the thm red line 
at Waterloo, the Japanese met the onset without a waver. 




DEATH TO THE SPY 

The Japanese found it necessary to establish martial law in Korea, and the above 
picture represents the execution of a Korean spy, who had given information to the Rus- 
sians. Japan has as a rule, however, made her influence dominant throughout the country 
by peaceful measures. The people were won over until their cooperation was spontaneous. 



CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 385 

and several squadrons of cavalry, and the Siiiyen force of nine squadrons, 
supported by a strong column of infantry toward the south. 

"The enemy's position on June 19 and June 21 extended within 
seven miles southward to Senuchen along a line from the sea to the 
mountainous and difficult district east of the railway. 

Japs Hold Mountain Passes. 

"The enemy's advance lines are being strongly held by cavalry and 
a screen of infantry. The passes and defiles in the mountains east of 
the railway are also vigilantly guarded. 

"A movement of strong Japanese mounted patrols with infantry 
supports was noted June 20 from five in the afternoon until dark. We 
had no losses in the firing which ensued, while the Japanese had several 
killed and wounded. 

"An increase in the Japanese forces has been noticed south of Van- 
fiapudze and near the villages of Manzeapudze, Takziapudze, and Kha- 
kahei. Reinforcements are also reaching the Japanese at the furthest 
point of the road between Siuyen and Tanchi via Paiahaniou and Siak- 
hotan. 

Erecting Field Defense. 

"The Japanese are directing field fortifications on the road from 
Siuyen to Kaichou. The enemy's outposts have occupied the pass be- 
tween Pangrabsi and Paichang, on the northern road, nine and a half 
miles east of Siakhotan and the Chapan pass, seven and a half miles 
south of Siakhotan. On June 19 two Cossacks were wounded by Chi- 
nese ruffians. 

"The Japanese have fortified Kuandiansian, mounting eighteen guns, 
with a strong screen. The enemy has occupied the village of Sapenhai., 
twenty-five miles northeast of Saimatze, and is firmly intrenched." 

Tells of Jap Advance. 

The general staff received the following dispatch from Lieutenant 
General Sakharofif under date of June 22: 

"At 8 o'clock on the morning of June 21 the Japanese vanguard 



386 CHECKING THE RUSSIAN.ADVANCE. 

resumed its advance against our outposts four miles south of Senuchen. 
The outposts retired slowly towards Senuchen and farther on in the 
direction of Kaichou. 

"At noon a Japanese column consisting of nine squadrons of cav- 
alry, a battery of artillery, and a considerable number of infantry, was 
observed advancing in the direction of Senuchen. Other strong col- 
umns of the enemy appeared and the Japanese occupied Senuchen to- 
wards evening with over a division of infantry, a brigade of cavalry, 
and thirty-two guns. 

Japs Hold Two Passes. 

"According to information received from our scouts and the inhabi- 
tants, the enemy over a division strong is concentrated southwards of 
Chapan pass near Changtaitien and Longliatien. 

"The Japanese did not advance beyond Chapan pass in the direction 
of Tanchi and the enemy on the morning of the 22d had not occupied 
the pass between Paitsiapei and Panchingine on the Siuyenliahotang 
road. 

Russians Nearly Surprised. 

"Our scouts report that a large detachment of all arms advanced 
from Siuyen to Khranza on the morning of June 22. A battalion of 
the enemy taking advantage of a thick fog tried to surprise our van- 
guard near Vandiapudze, on the road from Siuyen to Haicheng. 

"The movement was discovered in time and the Japanese received 
volleys from five companies of Russians. The enemy retired with some 
losses towards Siuyen. One Russian sharpshooter was wounded. 

"The Japanese occupied Vafangtien, on the main road to Liaoyang, 
on the evening of June 19 with a battalion of infantry and a squadron 
of cavalry. A detachment of the same strength occupied Chandinju, 
in the valley of the Tsuo river, seven miles north of Fengwangcheng." 

"The occupation of Siungyoshan by a Japanese detachment indicates 
that the connection between the enemy's armies is practically assured. 
Siungyoshan is half way between General Oku's and General Kuroki's 
positions, at Senuchen and Siuyen, respectively." 



CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 387 

On July I, came the news that the Japanese armies had captured 
iTa pass, northeast of Liaoyang; Motien pass and Fenshui pass, directly 
east. According to military observers the object of this movement on 
the part of the Japanese armies v^as to be able to cut the railroad north 
of Liaoyang and at the same time hold the Russian forces in check 
while the army advancing westward from Fenshui and Motien pass 
would be able to strike Liaoyang. 

The details of the capture of Fenshui pass are as follows: On June 
26, the Toyo detachment of the Japanese army attacked the eastern 
line of the Russian troops and from daylight to darkness the operations 
were carried on. As night came on the Japanese soldiers went into 
camp, but at midnight they resumed the attack, defeated the enemy 
and occupied the Russian position. On the following day the Russian 
forces, having been reinforced, attempted to take the position, but were 
again repulsed. 

Fearful Sacrifice of Life. 

The Marui detachment of the Japanese army, on the evening of the 
26th, attacked the Russian rear and flank. On the morning of the 
27th, the main body of the Japanese troops routed two battalions of the 
enemy's infantry and occupied Fenshui pass. The Asada detachment 
which had defeated 2,000 Russian infantry and cavalry on the evening of 
the 26th, remained under arms at the eastern foot of the pass until the 
following morning, when the Russian artillery, having been silenced, 
they stormed and captured the enemy's position. The Japanese casual- 
ties were 1,170 killed and wounded; the Russian loss was considerably 
less owing to the fact of their strongly intrenched positions. 

On June 29, General Kouropatkin sent the following dispatch to the 
Czar: 

"Towards 8 o'clock in the morning of June 2y, our troops, having 
dislodged the enemy's advance guard, composed of cavalry and infantry, 
occupied the station of Senuchen, but at 9 o'clock it was discovered that 
a brigade of the enemy's infantry was advancing in front, while other 
columns were turning our detachment's left flank. 



388 CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 

"The town of Senuchen, which Is surrounded by walls, was also 
occupied by the Japanese. Consequently at 1 1 o'clock our troops slowly 
withdrew. 

Officers Lost in Reconnoissance. 

"A reconnoissance carried out on the road from Siakhotung to Erl- 
tatan and Khanza revealed the presence of six companies of the enemy's 
infantry and two squadrons of cavalry at Mayaratsa, three miles south- 
east of Siakhotung. In his reconnoissance Captain Vassilliofif, Lieu- 
tenant Makaroff, ajid five Cossacks were wounded. Makaroff suc- 
cumbed. 

"There was some skirmishing June 25 between the enemy and our 
outposts at Samiarlkau and Wangtsiafangching, five miles west of 
Samiarlkau. 

"At 4 in the morning, June 26, a detachment of the enemy, nearly 
an infantry brigade, with two batteries, occupied Santiao, firing on our 
vanposts occupying Black Mount, south of Siakhotung. Our three 
companies firmly held their ground until reinforced. At 6 a. m. a bat- 
tery of Cossacks and a mounted mountain battery took up a position 
and opened fire on the front and flank of a Japanese battery and dense 
columns of infantry which had appeared against our left. 

Japs Lose a Skirmish. 

"At I in the afternoon the Japanese began to retire, pressed by 
our troops, who had assumed the offensive and pursued the enemy as 
far as Santiao. Our losses were six soldiers killed, and two officers 
and thirty-three men wounded. 

"The battle recommenced at Siakhotung at 6 in the morning. A 
Cossack battery and a mounted battery repeatedly pursued the enemy's 
infantry and silenced the Japanese batteries. 

"A section of our infantry repulsed the Japanese on our right, we 
counter attac"king; the fighting ceased at five. A section of the Eleventh 
horse battery, which participated in the fighting, astonished everybody 
by its gallantry in pushing on so far as the Shanhai pass, and holding 



CHECKING THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE. 389 

its own against eight of the enemy's guns until its ammunition was 
exhausted. 

"Our losses have not been ascertained definitely, but they are re- 
ported not to exceed fifty men and twenty horses. 

"A battalion and a squadron of the Japanese vanguard, June 26, 
operating north of the Siuyenkaichou road, occupied Cheliuangtien, 
four miles northeast of Siakhotung. 

Japs Capture Ta Pass. 

"A concentration, towards evening, of twenty-six Japanese battal- 
ions was observed near the village of Wangtsiaputse, on the road from 
Siuyen to Haicheng. 

"From the morning of June 2^ the Japanese developed a frontal 
attack against our troops in Ta Pass, simultaneously turning our right 
with at least a division of infantry and three field batteries. The fight 
lasted until 7 140 in the evening. In view of the enemy's great strength 
and the turning movement our troops retired slowly from the pass. 
The enemy did not advance. Our losses are undetermined, but are 
estimated at about 200. 

"On June 26 the enemy continued to advance from Fenshui and 
Motien passes frontally and flanking. At least eight battalions and 
ten guns were concentrated against Motien pass. 

"At 4 o'clock in the afternoon the enemy occupied Kautia pass, on 
the Liaoyang main road. 

"Since June 25 the Japanese have been advancing their right, occu- 
pying Saimatsze the morning of June 26, three companies advancing 
beyond. At first they forced back the Cossacks, but subsequently the 
Japanese were repulsed." 



CHAPTER XXXI. 
RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED 

Objective Point of the Japanese Army— The Capture of Kaichou— Haicheng the G-oal— 
A Sanguinary Conflict— Motien Pass— Official Reports of the Engagement— A Russian 
Rout — ^A Decisive Victory— Yangze Pass — ^Death of General Keller. 

IN THE early days of July dispatches from the seat of war stated 
that the armies of the Czar and Mikado, almost within striking 
distance, were stalled in seas of mud. The rainy season had set in and 
there was only desultory fighting from time to time. General Kouro- 
patkin was at Tatchekiao and the Japanese forces were at Senuchen 
and along the roads from Siuyen to Haicheng and Kaichou. Under 
date of July 7th a dispatch from Liaoyang reported considerable fight- 
ing in that neighborhood, and according to the views of the war corre- 
spondents at the front, the Japanese object was to cut off Mukden. 

Japanese Activity Continuous. 

On July II, the following dispatch from St. Petersburg indicated 
persistent activity on the part of the Japanese: 

"General Kouropatkin, according to private advices from the front, 
will not make a serious attempt to hold Tatchekiao, above Kaichou, 
midway between that place and Haicheng, and where the railroad con- 
nects with the branch from Newchwang. 

"Developments of the Japanese strength on the Siuyen roads seem 
to be forcing a Russian concentration between Haicheng and Liaoyang, 
but preparations seem to be making to defend the former as long as 
possible. 

"General Count Keller's force, which was a little southwest of Liao- 
yang, has apparently moved farther southward, to stay the advance of 
the Japanese direct from the road between Fengwangcheng and Hai- 
cheng." 

390 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 391 

"The pressure on the Russian left rear as it withdraws continues. 
There is now practically nothing in the way of Japanese occupati@n of 
Newchwang and the completion of the Japanese line across the head 
of the Liaotung peninsula. The fortification of the passes of the Fen- 
shui range and the semi-circle eastward of Liaoyang is reported. 

"With pressure on two sides, if the Japanese have any serious in- 
tentions of pushing home their advance in the direction of Mukden, 
General Kouropatkin's position would seem decidedly dangerous. 

Opportunities for Flanking. 

"Whether the Japanese operations north will be pressed in the face 
of the rainy season, which is not regarded as probable, the Japanese 
seem assured of the command of the mouth of the Liao river valley, 
which will give them a new base with two railroads, one direct to Muk- 
den, and the other to the Sinminting river and the imperial high road. 
The Sinminting road opens vast possibilities for flanking if an advance 
is begun at the end of the rains. 

"Severe fighting is not improbable north of Tatchekiao, but the be- 
lief is growing that Kouropatkin does not intend to accept a general 
engagement at this time, even if challenged. 

Oku's Advance Continues. 

, "Meantime General Oku's advance continues. His main force, 
which the general staff believes to be almost 60,000 strong, was yes- 
terday about five miles north of Kaichou. His skirmishers were about 
three miles further north. The Japanese cavalry is proceeding to New- 
chwang, and a heavy force of Japanese is converging upon Siadiamaf, 
halfway to Tatchekiao, on the Siuyen road. The sentiments of the 
general staff foreshadow an engagement at Haicheng." 

Japs Pursue Russians. 

On July 9, a Russian correspondent who arrived at Tatchekiao sent 
the following account of the capture of Kaichou with the Russian rear- 
guard after a running fight from Kaichou: 



392 RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED, 

"We evacuated Kaichou today, after a fight lasting throughout 
Friday. We made a short stand at Pintzan, seven miles north of Kai- 
chou. The Japanese kept on our heels, and there were constant ex- 
changes between the Russian and Japanese batteries. The Japanese 
advance stopped eight miles south of here. The fighting along the 
road was lively, but our losses were small. 

"There had been preliminary skirmishing and maneuvering for po- 
sition around Kaichou since July 5. On that day two companies were 
caught in the hills to the eastward and surrounded by six Japanese 
battalions. They cut their way out, however, and returned to Kaichou, 
bringing many wounded. 

"On the morning of July 6 our scouts reported that a strong Japanese 
force was taking up a position in the hills to the southeast. 

"Early in the morning of July 8 the hills to the southward 
and eastward of Kaichou were apparently deserted, but we were aware 
that the Japanese were ready to spring. We had destroyed the railway 
bridge south of the town and had a strong line of rifle pits along the 
bank of the river. 

"It was a brilHant morning. The Japanese began to advance from 
the defiles, where they were concealed, and, taking cover behind thick 
trees and in the gardens south of the river, kept their batteries on the 
hilltops carefully masked. 

Russians Are Outflanked. 

"While the Japanese crept forward 100 yards, keeping up a fierce 
exchange with our riflemen, another column started to work around 
our left through a deep valley. The sound of a heavy rifle fire at the 
railway station told us that the column had struck our outposts. Then 
our battery behind the station opened fire and the advance in that 
direction was checked. 

"We had a squadron of cavalry and a battalion of infantry across 
the river, and through the golden haze we could just see them maneu- 
vering to meet the Japanese column, which they engaged fiercely. The 
Japanese finally rolled back. 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 393 

Night Ends First Fight. 

"In the meantime the Japanese cavalry on the extreme west tried 
to creep around the shore of the gulf of Liaotung, but our batteries 
headed off the cavalrymen and drove them in confusion. By noon the 
advance was checked at all points, though growing- numbers of Japanese 
were seen gathering in the hills and their batteries threw an occasional 
shot. 

"Both. sides held their respective positions through the warm, starlit 
night. Japanese reserves were hurrying up and concentrating for a 
morning attack, but we had held out as long as advisable in the face 
of the growing number of the enemy, and quietly prepared to evacuate. 

"The Japanese advance commenced at dawn, at first quietly and 
cautiously, and then with a rush thirty-five infantry companies hurled 
themselves across the river. They must have been surprised to find 
themselves unopposed and greeted only by the smoke of the warehouses 
which we had set on fire before retiring, 

"Our batteries had got away long before the arrival of the Japanese, 
and were in a position north of the town, from which they greeted the 
enemy with a hail of shrapnel as he started to follow our retreat. 

Day of Artillery Duels. 

"The entire day was marked by a long series of artillery duels. The 
enemy's front covered the plain on both sides of the road and the defiles 
in the eastern hills. Wherever an advance movement appeared it was 
greeted by the bark of the quick firers and the drumming of the machine 
guns. 

"There was little rifle fire. The Russian main column was already 
proceeding north and a few Cossacks were hovering in the rear support- 
ing the batteries. 

"At noon the Japanese artillery arrived and engaged the Cossack 
horse battery. The Russians made no attempt to seriously contest the 
ground, but retired to a fresh position, at the same time worrying the 
enemy." 



394 RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 

General Kuroki's Advance. 

After occupying Kaichou the Japanese army moved northward, 
with Haicheng as the probable goal. A correspondent with the Jap- 
anese army contributed the following description of General Kuroki's 
advance : 

"The advance of the Japanese over a wide front has been a complete 
success. It at once deceived the enemy and filled him with paralyzing 
doubt as to the true direction of attack. We had evidence of this on 
our march towards Liaoyang. Positions which nature itself seemed 
to have designed for purposes of defense, and upon which infinite labor 
and skill had been expended, had been abandoned without a struggle. 

"These bloodless victories themselves are a tribute to the strategy 
of the Japanese, and the secrecy and foresight which mark every move- 
ment of the great army now in the field. 

Russians Abandon Trenches. 

"Twelve miles south of Motienling, on the Pekin road, is a saddle- 
like hill which forms the watershed of the Tsaiho. The ridge runs like 
a reef across the northern edge of a long, narrow defile through which 
we have advanced. 

"This strong position the Russians had made even more formidable 
by trenches with gun emplacements here and there. Here, if anywhere, 
we expected they would make a stand, but when we came to the water- 
shed they were not visible. The trenches were empty and the guns 
gone. 

"At Lienchenkwan, four miles further on, we found only traces of 
the camp which had been the headquarters of the Russians and the 
charred, blackened slope where they had burned their stores of forage 
and grain. 

"But surely we should find the elusive enemy at Motienling — that 
famous heaven reaching pass about which military experts have written 
so much — but that, too, was deserted. 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 395 

Motien Pass Not Defensible. 

"On the whole, its abandonment was not surprising. The pass 
really is not defensible. Its position is forestalled by a mountain about 
1,000 feet above the river valley, traversed by a steep winding path. 
The mountain is crowded with angles and dead ground on which large 
bodies of troops could lie in perfect security. The slopes were steep 
and there was no room for field fire. The Russians therefore had 
formed a correct estimate of the tactical features of the pass, and had 
not wasted their energies on defensive works. 

"If the attack on our outpost yesterday was really an attempt to 
recover it, it must be accepted as an indication that General Kouropatkin 
suddenly has become alive to his danger and sought to retard our ad- 
vance accordingly. 

Russian Attack That Failed. 

"The attack resembled, in some respects, the onslaught of the Boers 
at Wagon hill, outside of Ladysmith. 

"Under cover of darkness two battalions approached the valley at 
the foot of the northern slope of the pass, which was occupied by a sin- 
gle battalion of Japanese. The defenders were taken by surprise, and 
the enemy secured a footing on the road at the head of the valley. 

"At this point one company of Japanese became involved in a hand 
to hand fight. It then withdrew a little in order to secure a better field 
for fire. The second company, being reinforced, came through the 
woods and subjected the Russians to an enfilading fire, and the third 
company threw itself on the enemy. 

A Fully Equipped Army. 

"A desperate struggle ensued. One sergeant cut down an officer 
and two men before he fell, pierced by many bayonets. 

"The fourth company occupied the ridge to the south, lest there 
should be another attack from the rear, but no such attack was deliv- 
ered, and in time it joined the pursuit along the river when the Rus- 



396 RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 

siaiis retreated. Only one battalion of the enemy came into action. It 
lost fifty-three killed and forty-seven wounded and prisoners. 

"This gallant little fight exemplifies the state of things which Euro- 
pean critics are apt to ignore — namely; that for the first time in the his- 
tory of war the field has been taken by a fully equipped, scientific army, 
which would rather be exterminated to a man than admit defeat." 

Battle of Motien Pass. 

On July 17, Russian arms suffered a disaster at Motien pass, when 
General Keller attempted to surprise the Japanese forces with 20,000 
men and fourteen guns at two o'clock in the morning and under cover 
of a dense fog. The sudden onslaught drove in the Japanese outposts 
but as soon as reinforcements arrived the Japanese gallantly advanced 
to the attack, and, after severe fighting, drove off the Russians and 
re-occupied the position. The Russians retired, their retreat being well 
covered. The fighting lasted until three o'clock in the afternoon, the 
Russians losing nearly 2,000 men killed and wounded. 
Forces Considered Inadequate. 

General Kouropatkin's report of the action follows: 
"After the occupation by General Kuroki's army of the passes in 
the Fonshui mountain chain, our information concerning his forces and 
dispositons was in general inadequate. According to some reports his 
army had been reinforced and he had even extended his forces towards 
Saimatze. Other reports stated^ that a displacement of his troops had 
been made in the direction of Ta pass and Siuyen. There were even 
indications that Kuroki had transferred his headquarters from Tskhak- 
hekan to Touinpu. 

"On the strength of the information received and on the basis of 
reconnoissances which had been made the hypothesis was formed that 
the principal forces of the enemy were concentrated around Lianshank- 
w^an and that their advanced guards had been strengthened in the 
passes of Siaokao, Wafankwan, Sinkia, Lakho, and Papau, as well as 
at Sybel pass, two and a half miles north of the road and half the height 
of Siaokao pass. 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 397 

Keller Ordered to Attack. 

"On July 17, in order to determine the strength of the enemy, it 
was decided to advance against his position in the direction of Lian- 
shankwan. Lieutenant General Count Keller had been instructed not 
to start with the object of capturing the pass, but to act according to 
the strength of the force that he would find opposed to him. 

"The left column of the expeditionary force, consisting of three bat- 
talions, was dispatched towards Sybel pass. The center column, com- 
manded by Major General Kashtalinsky, consisting of fourteen bat- 
talions, with twelve guns, was destined to attack Siaokao pass, the 
heights surmounted by the temple and Wafankwan pass. 

"The right column, one battalion strong, was occupying points 
where the roads leading to Sinkia and Lakho passes cross, in order 
to cover the right flank of General Kashtalinsky's column. The gen- 
eral reserve was left at Ikhavuen, and a portion of the force occupied 
a position at that place. 

Advance Begins at Night. 

"At 10 p. m., July 16, the head of the column advanced from Ikha- 
vuan. At II o'clock a battalion of the Second regiment dislodged a 
Japanese outpost at the point of the bayonet at the crossing of the 
Lakho and the Sinkia roads. 

"The details of this engagement have not yet been verified, but its 
general course, according to telegraphic reports sent in by General 
Keller, was as follows: 

"During the night the Japanese had evacuated Siaokao pass and 
the heights surmounted by the temple, leaving only outposts there. At 
dawn General Kashtalinsky's column occupied these passes, driving 
back the Japanese advance posts. 

Positions Were Untenable. 

"At 5:30 on the morning of July 17 the Japanese in considerable 
strength and with numerous guns occupied Wafankwan pass and the 



398 RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. . 

mountainous bluffs to the south on the flank of General Kashtalinsky's 
column. From this position and from the crest of the mountains to 
the east of the heights surmounted by the temple the enemy directed 
a heavy rifle and artillery fire. 

"General Kashtalinsky advanced to occupy the bluffs, sending for- 
ward at once one and then three battalions, but the attempt failed, 
notwithstanding the support given by the horse mountain battery, as 
our field guns could not be brought into action on account of the nature 
of the ground. 

"At 8 a. m. General Keller, who was directing the fight around 
Ikhavuan, deemed it necessary to lend assistance to General Kashta- 
linsky's column by bringing up from the general reserve three bat- 
talions to the heights surmounted by the temple. 

"In order to maintain the positions we had already occupied, it was 
necessary, owing to the enemy's pressure, to reinforce immediately with 
other reserves the troops in the fighting line, but these positions, owing 
to their situation, were untenable. 

Keller Decides to Retreat. 

"General Keller found the strength of the enemy so great compared 
with ours that he decided not to continue the fight and not to bring up 
either the special or the general reserves, especially in view of the fact 
that in case of his ultimately taking the offensive it would be necessary 
to attack without support of the field artillery. 

"In consequence of this General Keller decided about 10:30 to with- 
draw his troops to the positions originally occupied in the Yangze pass. 
The troops retired slowly, step by step, and in perfect order, covered 
by the fire of a field battery, which had been brought into action. 

Japs Take Up Pursuit. 

"Towards midday an offensive movement by the enemy in the direc- 
tion of the right flank of the Yangze pass position developed, and at 
the same time a Japanese mountain battery was brought into position 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 399 

in the village of Tsoudiaputse, two and a half miles returned to Ikha- 
vuan. 

"After thirty-four shots had been fired from the third battery of 
the Third brigade, which held the saddle to the south of Yangze pass, 
the Japanese battery was finally reduced to silence. 

"The fight ceased at 3 p. m. and the troops returned to Ikhavuan. 

"The Japanese advance was stopped above the valley of the lan- 
takhe river at a position occupied and maintained by us. 

"In consequence of a sleepless night and the heat of the day our 
troops were greatly fatigued, having been over fifteen hours on foot 
and fighting. 

"Our losses have not yet been exactly ascertained, but General Kel- 
ler reports that they exceed one thousand. 

"The gallant Twenty-fourth regiment suffered most. General Kel- 
ler especially mentions the activity, courage, and coolness shown by 
its commanding officers. Colonel Koschitz was severely wounded in 
the leg, but remained in the ranks until the end of the action." 

Kuroki's Brief Report. 

General Kuroki reported that on July 17, at 3 o'clock in the morn- 
ing, in a dense fog, General Keller, with two divisions, assaulted Motien 
pass and the flanking positions. After stubborn fighting the Japanese 
repulsed the attack and pursued the Russians nearly to Tienshutien. 
General Kuroki also stated that four officers and fifty-nine men were 
killed and fifteen officers and 241 men wounded. In one company all 
the officers were either killed or wounded. 

The enemy forced the outposts into Motien pass in their first at- 
tack and attempted to surround the Japanese left wing. It was only by 
stubborn resistance in the face of great odds that the Russians were 
forced to retire. 

Jap Story of the Battle. 

The Japanese guarded their positions about the pass with a com- 
pany on outpost. These men resisted stubbornly the Russian advance 



400 RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 

and awaited the arrival of reinforcements. When these arrived they 
joined in the general attack. 

The outpost detachment stationed at Hsiamatang held this position 
all day long. It w^as largely outnumbered by the enemy and every 
commissioned and noncommissioned officer was wounded, as were a 
majority of the men. The attack on Motien pass began at 3 o'clock 
in the morning. 

How the Attack Began. 

The Russians engaged the outposts and the Japanese at once went 
into action. The Japanese artillery, posted on the heights to the north- 
west of Wufingkuan, opened on the enemy, and the Japanese outposts 
retired gradually. 

The Russian cavalry galloped forward and deployed along the ridge 
to the west of the pass. Two hours later, at 5 o'clock, the entire Jap- 
anese line was engaged. The Russians were constantly receiving rein- 
forcements and finally they had four regiments in action. They out- 
numbered the Japanese. 

The Russians made vain endeavors to envelop the Japanese left. 

At this point the Japanese occupied the summit of Motien moun- 
tain, and they resisted desperately the efforts of the enemy to dislodge 
them. 

When the Russians finally retreated they were pursued by the entire 
Japanese line. Seven battalions of the enemy made a halt on the heights 
of Tawan and with four guns checked the Japanese pursuit. 

Three Against One. 

One company of Japanese soldiers reconnoitering from Hsuikailing 
encountered and engaged three battalions of Russians. It fought until 
reinforced by four companies, when the Russians were repulsed. The 
Japanese seized and held the heights west of Makumenza. 

The attack on Hsiamatang began at 8 o'clock in the morning. A 
battalion of Russian infantry and a squadron of cavalry assaulted the 
Japanese company on outpost there. The Russians received reinforce- 




RUSSIAN PRISONERS 

The above very striking pictui-e represents a detachment of Cossack prisoners 
guai-ded by their little Japanese captors. The desire of the Japanese to appear thoroughly 
Western was very evident in the care they took of their prisoners, and Russian captives 
were unstinted in their praise of the kindness with which they were treated. 




i- !3 




A WOUNDED RUSSIAN SOLDIER 

The Japanese hospital and medical departments were in every way thoroughly equipped 
and efficient. The army doctors of the Mikado removed the wounded from the field without 
regard to nationality. The above picture shows two Japanese physicians, assisted by two 
women nurses of the Red Cross Society, tenderly caring for a wounded soldier, 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 401 

ments until they were a regiment strong. The Japanese resisted dog- 
gedly. All their officers were either killed or wounded, but still the 
men fought on. The Japanese finally received reinforcements, and 
the Russians retired at 5 o'clock in the afternoon. 

Attack Was Well Planned. 

Commenting on the battle at Motien pass, Spenser Wilkinson, the 
noted correspondent, said: 

"General Keller was trying to break the center of the long Japanese 
front — a good plan when the enemy's front is 120 miles long, as it seems 
to be in this case. A vigorous, successful Russian offensive move along 
the main road would render precarious the position of the whole Jap- 
anese right wing and might also compel the left wing to fall back toward 
Siuyen. 

"General Kouropatkin's dispatch seems to treat the action as a recon- 
noissance in force. The Japanese have been holding the passes for the 
last three weeks, and though they have pushed their left forward 
through Kaichou there is as yet no sign on their part of a general 
advance. 

Maintaining Its Position. 

"By every plausible hypothesis, Kuroki's army in the mountains 
merely is keeping its position until the fall of Port Arthur gives it large 
reinforcements, and when every available battery and battalion can 
be made to co-operate, operations against Kouropatkin will begin, but if 
the Japanese field army is not yet ready to attack Kouropatkin he may 
take the initiative. That seems to be the meaning of the battle, or that 
the attack at some point or other soon will be repeated. 

"There are, however, two great difficulties in Kouropatkin's way. 
The first is that the Japanese have proved at the Yalu, at Nanshan, and 
at Vafangov/ that they have tactical superiority. They are better ar- 
tists at fighting than the Russians and are equally brave. 

"Next, Kouropatkin's army is in awkward strategical position. It is 
strung out on a line from Tatchekiao to Mukden with its communica- 
tions a prolongation of its front. 



402 RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 

"If Kouropatkin could make a great left wheel and drive the Jap- 
anese left back on Fengwangcheng the Japanese army would be in a 
perilous situation, but the Japanese hold the mountains and the Rus- 
sians the plain. Kouropatkin, therefore, does better to try and break 
the center, so as to compel their right wing to fall back on the upper 
Yalu and left wing on Takushan ; but Kouropatkin's telegram, in which 
he seems to have been painfully surprised by the strength of the Jap- 
anese forces at the point where he tried to break through, hardly augurs 
well for his next attempt." 

Russians Unmasked. 

On July i8. General Kuroki advanced his forces with' the object of 
capturing Kiaotung, otherwise Chowtow, a strong position on the 
Chi river, northwest of Motien pass and east of Anping, The advance 
unmasked the Russians, who retired northward along the Chi river. 
General Kuroki following. 

Suddenly two Russian battalions with eight guns turned and vigor- 
ously attacked the Japanese vanguard, which was severely mauled, one 
company losing all its officers. Supports were rapidly forwarded and 
fighting continued obstinately. 

In the course of the afternoon the whole Russian position was deter- 
mined. It was on a height about 2,000 yards above the Chi river, 
which protected the Russian left flank, while lofty precipices shielded 
its right flank, the position only being approachable through a narrow 
defile. 

Japs Attack at Midnight. 

The fighting continued until nightfall, when the Japanese bivou- 
acked. The Russians made two counter attacks, both of which were re- 
pulsed. The Japanese renewed the attack at midnght, the main body 
operating against the Russian center, while detachments were sent 
to watch the respective flanks. Artillery was posted in the valley and 
on the heights southward. 

The engagement became general at dawn. The Russians directed 
the fire of thirty-two guns at their assailants, pouring in shell persist- 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 403 

ently. The Japanese artillery responded and the gun duel lasted for 
four hours. Then the infantry advanced, and, by 3 o'clock in the after- 
noon, the Japanese flankers had scaled the height occupied by the Rus- 
sian right, whereupon the main body was ordered to storm the center. 

In doing this the Japanese lost severely from Russian rifle fire, al- 
though the artillery protected the movement to the utmost. 

Russian Retreat a Rout. 

The final charge, which was made at half past 5 o'clock, broke the 
Russians, whose retreat was already partly cut off, and their retire- 
ment soon became a rout. They fled to the north and east, leaving 
131 dead and 300 rifles. The Japanese took forty-seven prisoners and 
several guns and occupied Kiaotung. 

Prisoners taken estimate the Russian loss at 1,000. Their force 
comprised seven battalions of infantry and a regiment of Cossacks, in 
addition to the artillery. 

The Japanese lost Major Hiraoka, who was the Japanese attache 
witnessing the Boer war, fifty-four men killed, and eighteen officers, 
and 351 men wounded. 

The Japanese also attacked on July 19 a battalion of infantry and 
1,000 cavalry at Choshiapo, north of Shaotientse, and drove them across 
the Taitsze river, after four hours of fighting. The Japanese lost sev- 
enteen wounded. 

In the meantime there were constant skirmishes in this region be- 
tween Amur Cossacks and Japanese scouts. The Japanese made an 
unusually heavy attack on the Russian outpost at Tzyanchan, when 
100 cavalry and 700 infantry rushed the camp and forced the Cossacks 
to retire. The following day, however, the Japanese retired and the 
Russians reoccupied the position. 

Another Japanese Victory. 

On July 17th a detachment of the Russian troops gave battle in 
the Sybel pass to a force of Japanese soldiers. The engagement re- 
sulted with the retirement of the Russians and the loss of over 200 



404 RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 

killed and wounded. In another fight, on the Mukden road, on July 
19th, several companies of dismounted Cossacks offered a strong re- 
sistance to the Japanese advance guards. As a result of several days' 
activity, the Japanese secured better strategic lines from their advance 
and the Russians lost their best defensive positions both on the Liao- 
yang and Mukden roads. 

The Battle of Tatchekiao. 

On July 23, the Japanese commenced to push forward from Kai- 
chou and force the retirement of the Russian rear guard to Tatchekiao, 
while a simultaneous Japanese advance began from the valley of the 
Chi on the east apparently also directed against Yinkow, the port of 
Newchwang, by way of Tatchekiao, The fourteen hour fight at the lat- 
ter place with heavy losses on both sides, the evacuation and partial 
destruction of Newchwang by the Russians and the heavy Japanese 
movement upon Liaoyang followed hard upon each other. 

According to the official reports there was considerable hard fight- 
nig at Tatchekaio before the place was taken. 

The army of General Oku, combined with what is known as the 
Takushan forces, attacked Tatchekiao Sunday night, July 24, and on 
Monday captured all the important topographical keys. The Russian 
forces consisted of five divisions. 

In a daring night attack against a Russian force, estimated at five 
divisions with 100 guns, General Oku succeeded in driving the enemy 
from their strong line of defense south of Tatchekiao. 

Advancing on Sunday, General Oku found a superior force con- 
fronting him, and that a heavy artillery fire from the enemy was check- 
ing his men. He thereupon decided to hold the positions he then held 
and to attempt a night surprise. This was successful, the Japanese 
troops hustling the Russians into retreat to Tatchekiao. The Japanese 
had only 800 casualties. No estimates of the Russian losses are given. 

Takushan Army in Reserve. 

The Takushan army did not participate in this fight, it being located 
to the east of Tatchekiao, Moving to the northwest, this Takushan 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 405 

force fought and won a separate action on Friday, July 22, at Panling, 
losing thirty-one men. 

The Japanese began the advance against the Russian positions south 
of Tatchekiao on Saturday, July 23. On this date the vanguard occu- 
pied positions in the vicinity of Chulchiatun, to the southeast of Tatche- 
kiao, developing the position and strength of the enemy. The Russian 
line was through the hills south of Tatchekiao, extending almost due 
east and west of the railroad. The position of the enemy was fortified. 
The strongest point was at Taiping mountain, to the southwest of 
Tatchekiao, and here the heaviest force had assembled. The Russians 
had two battalions of artillery posted near Chatenganon, due south of 
Tatchekiao and ahead of the main line. 

Russian Batteries Active. 

In the afternoon the Russian batteries, posted in various positions 
on the heights, opened with vigor, shelling the advancing Japanese line. 
The strength of the Russians gradually developed during the day and 
General Oku estimated it at five divisions and 100 guns. The Russian 
fire prevented a general advance and determined General Oku to decide 
to await the advance of darkness to deliver a night assault. 

Two divisions of Russians occupied the Saicheng road, and Gen, 
Oku took the precautionary measure of engaging this- force with artil- 
lery. The Russians replied with artillery and the duel lasted until 
darkness. 

Suddenly at 10 o'clock Sunday night the entire Japanese right was 
hurled against the first Russian position east and west of Taiping moun- 
tain and easily captured it. At midnight the second position was at- 
tacked and by daylight the Japanese occupied the eminence to the east 
of Chuichiatun. The Russians were in retreat toward Tatchekiao. At 
7 o'clock Monday morning the Japanese seized Chenyshishan without 
resistance and pursued the Russian force toward Tatchekiao. 

Kouropatkin Sends More Details. 

General Kouropatkin supplemented his own dispatches about the 
battle at Tatchekiao with the report of Lieutenant General Zarouvaielf^ 



4o6 RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 

who stated that his attempt to take the offensive against the Japanese 
right flank failed, the Russians losing heavily. He ascertained after 
the fight that eighteen Russian battalions had been engaged vv^ith at 
least two Japanese divisions, supported by an overwhelming number of 
batteries. The report added: 

"In these circumstances I did not think it advisable to resume the 
battle on the following day. I resolved to retreat north. The losses 
have not yet been ascertained, but it is estimated there have been about 
twenty officers and 600 men killed and wounded. Colonel Auspensky of 
the Tomsk regiment was severely wounded. 

Praises His Soldiers. 

"I must testify to the remarkable firmness of the troops of my com- 
mand in this difficult action, which lasted fifteen hours. The Siberian 
regiments particularly distinguished themselves by unwavering endur- 
ance. They had to meet the main attack. They did not yield much 
ground despite the enormous numerical superiority of the enemy and 
repeated attacks on our center, where the fighting on four occasions 
was conducted at close quarters with the bayonet, which the Japanese 
could not withstand." 

Japanese Threatening Haicheng. 

A telegram from General Kouropatkin was received at St. Peters- 
burg, on July 27, confirming the occupation of Tatchekiao by the Japan- 
ese July 25 and adding that a Japanese division had moved on Hai- 
cheng. 

General Stackelberg's and General Zarouvaieff's corps were at 
Haicheng, but the rear guard of the Russian army was half way between 
Haicheng and Tatchekiao. The Japanese, it was then believed, proba- 
bly were halting, as usual with them after each advance, to recuperate 
and intrench. 

Two Japanese divisions were nearing Sinouchen, which bore the 
same relation to Haicheng as Tangchi did to Tatchekiao. These forces 
were also stopping and throv/ing up earthworks eight miles southeast 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 407 

of Sinouchen, which was strongly held by the Russians. Skirmishers 
from either side were within speaking distance. 

The Japanese continued to menace Liaoyang's communications by 
concentrating troops at Sikseyan, but no further advance was made 
towards Liaoyang or Mukden. 

Russians Retreat to Haicheng. 

After the battle of Tatchekiao, as stated, the Russian troops re- 
treated to Haicheng. A dispatch from Newchwang stated that for sev- 
eral days there had been heavy fighting in the marshes south of 
Haicheng, during the gradual retreat of the Muscovite army. That 
the Russian general staff considered the situation serious is indicated 
in the following statement from St. Petersburg: 

"The enveloping movement of the three Japanese armies of Gen- 
erals Kuroki, Nodzu, and Oku around General Kouropatkin's position 
appears to be almost complete, and the extended line of the Japanese 
seems to be the only drawback to concerted action. It is realized here 
that the Russian general must now either fight or withdraw the whole 
army northward. He is being closely pressed at Haicheng." 

The Russians Amazed. 

A Russ special from Liaoyang said the mobility of the Japanese was 
wonderful. At Tatchekiao they made a feint to the east and let fall 
the main blow from the south. The Japanese losses are accounted for 
by their having attacked a fortified place defended by artillery. 

OfiQcers were astounded at the dexterity and cleverness of Kuroki, 
who, in spite of the absence of roads, seemed able to focus his troops 
at any point at any moment. 

Nemirovich Daschenko, a famous correspondent at the front, wrote : 
"It is under discouraging circumstances that our forces have to fight. 
They have the knowledge now that the Japanese have better artillery 
and are better prepared in every way. Good as our rifles may be, those 
of the enemy are better. We have little mountain artillery; the Jap- 
anese have masses of it., and move it about with ease from place to 



4o8 RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 

place. The secret manner in which the enemy moves about is marvel- 
ous. We never know on what side they are going to attack. Their 
cavalry, which we mocked in the early part of the war, scampers all 
over the country." 

Japanese Armies Renew Fight. 

On August I, the Czar received the following dispatch, dated July 
31, from General Kouropatkin : "Three Japanese armies have renewed 
offensive operations on our southern front. Our rear guard made an 
obstinate defense until the appearance of considerably superior forces 
of the enemy and then gradually retired in the direction of Haicheng. 
A detachment near Sinoucheng, fifteen miles southeast of Haicheng, 
successfully withstood the enemy until in the afternoon. 

"The attack was directed against our right flank, which from its 
position at Kanhua pass inflicted great losses on the Japanese. 

Russian Right Flank Turned. 

"The efforts of the Takushan army and General Oku's army to- 
day are being mainly directed to cutting our communications between 
Sinoucheng and Haicheng, their operations starting from a line travers- 
ing Yanshukan, Tapuntse and Liaohantse. On our eastern front the 
Japanese began the offensive this morning against our Ikhavuen posi- 
tion, the enemy's main concentration being against its right flank which 
was turned. 

"The enemy is also acting on the offensive between Liaoyang and 
Saimatze, almost due north of Fenhuangcheng, against our troops 
posted at Houtsiatse, twenty-five miles from Liaoyang. 

"Intelligence has been received of a considerable number of Jap- 
anese landing off Yinkow under the cover of several warships." 

A further dispatch from General Kouropatkin to the Emperor said : 

"All our positions were retained at Sinoucheng when the fighting 
ceased at 6:45 p. m., July 31, but I have not yet received reports of 
the operation on our extreme right flank. 

"We retained all our positions held by our eastern force at Yangze 



RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 409 

pass. General Keller, commanding, had chosen these as the point from 
which to watch the fight. A battery near him was exposed to heavier 
fire than any other and he was mortally wounded at 3 o'clock this after- 
noon. He died twenty minutes later." 

General Kouropatkin also reported the retirement of the Russian 
vanguard on the south front, a short distance in the direction of 
Haicheng. 

After determined fighting near the village of Sangchengtse, the Jap- 
anese apparently concentrated considerable forces on the Saimatze side 
of Liaoyang. 

Report of Keller's Death Confirmed. 

The report of Lieutenant General Count Keller's death was later 
confirmed. He was killed while resisting the preliminary attack of 
General Kuroki's army on the Yangze pass, thirty miles east of Liao- 
yang. The General was standing near a battery which was subjected to 
a terrific fire, when a shell burst close to him and he fell, mortally 
wounded, dying twenty minutes later. 

General Keller was the first high Russian military commander to 
lose his life in this war. General Zassalitch resumed the command of 
the First Siberian army corps. 

The loss of General Keller is deeply felt in court circles. He was a 
personal favorite of the Emperor. His sister, Countess Kleimmicha, 
is one of the leaders of St. Petersburg society. 

Lieutenant General Count Keller at the opening of the war was 
in command of the Second Siberian army division. He was 54 years 
old and resigned the Governorship of Ekaterinoslafif in order to go to 
the front. General Keller took part in the three campaigns of the 
Russo-Turkish war. In 1887 he commanded the Imperial Rifle regi- 
ment and later was director of the corps of imperial pages, by which 
Keller came in contact with the members of the imperial family, with 
whom he was in great favor. 

General Keller was considered to be the possessor of cool judgment 
and to be a fine strategist. Though a strict disciplinarian Keller was a 



4IO RUSSIAN ARMY NEARLY TRAPPED. 

kind and careful officer and popular with his men. His only decora- 
tion was the cross of the military order of St. George, which he wore 
on the breast of his tunic. He sustained two reverses at the hands of 
the Japanese — July 4 and July 17 — being repulsed in attacks on the 
Motien pass. 

On August 2 it was reported that in consequence of furious fighting 
the Russians were compelled to evacuate Haicheng; this was later con- 
firmed by General Kouropatkin in an official telegram to the czar. A 
clear idea of the brilliant operations of the Japanese army from July 23 
to August 3 may be obtained from the map on the following page. 
After occupying all the strategic points from Siuyen to Kaichou, the 
Mikado's troops forced the Russian line northward to Liaoyang. The 
abandonment of the latter place and the retreat of the Muscovite army 
to Mukden naturally followed. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 
NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS 

Admiral Skrydloff's Raid — The Vladivostok Squadron Escapes — Togo Encounters the Rus- 
sian Fleet — Sinking a Russian Gfuardship — ^Bombardment of the West Coast of the 
Liaotung Peninsula — Tightening the Grip — The Doomed Fortress — Every Position 
Occupied — The Beginning of the End, 

ON JUNE 13 a telegram was received from Admiral Skrydloff, 
commanding the Vladivostok squadron, stating that he had 
moved with the Vladivostok squadron towards Port Arthur. He ar- 
rived within thirty miles of the fortress, when he ran into a fog. It 
was asserted that Skrydloff found several Japanese torpedo boats and 
two battleships confronting him. The Japanese attacked fiercely and 
inflicted some damage. The Russians returned the fire, but as none of 
the Port Arthur ships appeared, as Admiral Skrydloff had hoped and 
expected, he returned to Vladivostok. 

Story of an Eye- Witness. 

A Russian correspondent, who witnessed the meeting between the 
Russian and Japanese squadrons, gave the following particulars: 

"The Japanese trap for our cruisers was quite cleverly set. A squad- 
ron fully three times the strength of the Russians lay in wait in the 
strait of Korea. A strong flotilla of torpedo boats lay in wait at Ta- 
kasaki, the northernmost point of Tsu island, with the intention of dash- 
ing out, catching the Russian cruisers between two fires, and forcing 
them to halt and to fight. 

"The plan worked up to the point of meeting the Russian squadron, 
which, when it saw the superior force of the Japanese, rapidly retreated 
to the northward. The Japanese began a stern chase, firing at intervals, 
but their shells fell one and one-third miles short. At this juncture 

413 



NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 413 

the Japanese torpedo boats shot out from Takasaki, and for a short time 
it looked as though we had been badly trapped. 

"We slipped through their cordon while they were attempting to 
draw in for a combined attack. Their quick firing guns opened without 
damaging the Russians in the slightest, while the heavy guns of the 
Russian cruisers sent two of the torpedo boats to the bottom. The 
other torpedo boats fled to the protection of their own squadron. 

"The Japanese mistook their own retreating torpedo boats for Rus- 
sian boats coming to attack them and opened a fusillade which lasted 
for three minutes. The Japanese torpedo boats spouted rockets and 
worked their signal lights desperately before the fire of their squadron 
ceased. We were unable to ascertain the damage which resulted. 

"The reason why they did not pursue us farther is not known. It 
is certain that they were not nearly a match for the Russians in speed. 
The torpedo flotilla is still hovering around Gensan on the lookout for 
Admiral Kamimura's squadron." 

The Japanese Admiral Fails. 

When the Russian Vladivostok squadron escaped pursuit, and Vice 
Admiral Kamimura returned to his base at Tsu island there closed what 
promised to be one of the most spectacular incidents of the war. 

To discover, to fight, and if possible to destroy three fast cruisers, 
one of them the most powerful fighting machine of its class in the world, 
and to do this in an open sea 700 miles long and 500 miles across, was 
the problem which confronted Kamimura. 

Wake of the Russian Raid. 

The Vladivostok ships left a broad path behind them in their dash 
into the Korean straits. On June 15 they appeared, without warning, in 
the narrowest part of the strait and sank three transports only forty 
miles from the coast of Japan. On June 16 they were off Oki island, 
on their way north. 

On June 17, still going north, close to the Japanese coast, they 
stopped and searched the American bark James Johnson, ofiF the west- 



414 NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 

ern entrance of Tsugaru strait, 400 miles directly east of Vladivostok. 
On June 18 they disappeared off Cape Henashi, steaming north. 

British naval experts declared Kamimura was guilty of a glaring 
error in not sending a strong fleet at fnll speed to Vladivostok as soon 
as he learned that the enemy was in the Korean straits. Kamimura was 
off Tsu island with his fleet on June 15, when the Russian ships ap- 
peared near Osima island. He began the pursuit the same day. 

Russians Double Back. 

The chase continued and the Japanese scouts were slowly overhaul- 
ing the enemy when a heavy rain storm came on and the Russians 
changed their course immedately, thus foiling pursuit. They next ap- 
peared off Hokkaido and again changed their course to the southward 
till they were off Heanshisaki. They then evidently steered north when 
unobserved, though it was known that the Russians were off Oki island. 
Admiral Kamimura, who was out of touch with his base, kept searching 
for the Russians in the direction of Vladivostok and was thus aware of 
the Muscovite ruse. 

The raid of the Russian Vladivostok squadron then apparently ended 
and transports resumed their regular trips between Japan, Korea, and 
the Liaotung peninsula. 

The raid cost Japan three transports, the lives of nearly 1,000 men, 
and a large quantity of supplies and material for the railroads being con- 
structed in Korea. 

Either Battle or Suicide. 

The raid of the Vladivostok squadron brought an unwarranted 
amount of criticism upon Vice Admiral Kamimura from the Japanese, 
and his failure to catch the Russians in the fog off Gensan on the coast 
of Korea, when the Japanese transport Kinshiu was sunk on April 26 
with a loss of about 200 men, was recalled. Some of these even declared 
that if Vice Admiral Kamimura failed to catch the Russian vessels 
before they reached Vladivostok he should either resign from the navy 
or commit suicide. 



NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 415 

The popular demand for his replacement rapidly grew, but the pub- 
lic was without information as to the nature of his orders or the plans 
of the naval campaign, and failed to -make allowance for the limitation 
of conditions. 

Vice Admiral Kamimura's squadron was lying off Tsu island when 
the raiding Russians reached Okino island. He immediately started in 
pursuit of the enemy, but rains obscured the sea and an electrical storm 
interfered with his system of wireless telegraphy. Vice Admiral Kam- 
imura was a splendid officer, and the only possible indictment against 
him was one of lack of good luck. 

Japanese Steamers Sunk. 

The Japanese transport Izumi was returning to Moji on Wednesday, 
June 15, with a number of sick Japanese soldiers on board, and was 
surrounded by three Russian warships off Osima, near Tsushima strait. 
One hundred and eighty soldiers aboard were taken on board the Grom- 
oboi. The Russian man-of-war had a number of other prisoners on 
board. These were lined up and compelled to witness the sinking of 
the Izumi. Later they saw the destruction of the transport Hitachi. 
They were then put in the hold until 3 o'clock in the afternoon of Thurs- 
day, June 16, when they were examined and twenty-two of them were 
put on a passing ship near Okino island. The Gromoboi then steamed 
northward. 

Friday morning two small steamers were surrounded by the Russian 
squadron off Fukyiama, island of Yezo. After they were examined they 
were released. The Russians placed on board coolies from the trans- 
port Sado Maru, which had previously been shelled by the Russians. 

No Fault of Kamimura. 

Vice Admiral Kamimura made a long report on the movements of 
his fleet in searching for the Russian ships. The search lasted four days 
and the Japanese Admiral thought he was fortunate in having no acci- 
dent, considering the thick weather. He regrets that the search had 
no results. The loss of the transports he said was due to the fact that 



4i6 NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 

his fleet was too small to watch both the Russian fleets and convoy 
transports also. 

Kamimura said he was informed by wireless telegraph that he was 
within forty miles of the Russians at the time the transports were de- 
stroyed, but the fog hid them and prevented him from hearing the guns. 
He could only guess the direction they had taken and wrongly guessed 
that they were making for Vladivostok. 

Another Daring Raid. 

On June 30, it was reported that the Russian squadron from Vladi- 
vostok was again at large, and making another daring raid into the 
Korean straits. The squadron, consisting of three cruisers, one torpedo 
destroyer, and nine torpedo boats, appeared off Gensan on the east 
coast of Korea. The torpedo boats entered Gensan harbor at 5 130 in 
the morning, shelled the settlement, and sunk the small steamer Koun, 
of 2,876 tons, and the small coasting schooner Seitsu. 

The torpedo boats left the harbor at 7:20. A total of 200 shells 
v/as fired into the settlement, but no serious damage resulted. Two 
Korean soldiers were wounded. 

Afterwards the squadron was reported ofif Anper, about fifteen miles 
to the east of Gensan, proceeding in a southeasterly direction. Its des- 
tination was not known. 

The Squadron Appears Again. 

Friday afternoon, July i, the Russian warships were steaming be- 
tween Iki island and Tsuishima, when they were sighted by Vice Ad- 
miral Kamimura, ten miles distant. 

The Japanese fleet turned and gave chase, their torpedo squadron 
leading. The distance had been reduced by some two miles when dark- 
ness set in. Kamimura then ordered the torpedo boats to dash ahead, 
but before they were able to use their tubes they were subjected to a 
concentration of the searchlights on the Russian ships and a fierce fire 
for fifteen minutes. Suddenly the firing ceased and every light on the 
fleet was obscured. The Russian tactics succeeded and the fleet dis- 
appeared. 



NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 



Togo's Great Victory. 



417 



On June 23d, the combined Japanese fleet attacked the enemy off 
Port Arthur. 

"Early in the morning," said Admiral Togo, in his official report, 
"the fact that the battleships Peresviet, Poltava, and Sevastopol, with 
the cruisers Bayan, Pallada, Diana, Novik, and Askold, preceded by 
several mine dragging steamers, w^ere emerging from the harbor en- 
trance was reported to me by wireless telegraphy from the scouting 
ship, 

"Then, according to arrangements previously made to provide 
against the enemy's egress, I hastened to the appointed rendezvous, 
sending my fourth and fourteenth destroyers flotillas to watch the en- 
emy's movement. 

"At II o'clock the battleships Cesarevitch, Retvizan, and Pobieda 
joined the dragging steamers, which commenced cruising about in 
the mines section, and attempted to make a fairway. We kept troubling 
them. 

"At 3 o'clock p. m. my fourth and fourteenth flotillas engaged seven 
of the enemy's destroyers which were covering the dragging operations 
and defeated them. One of the Russian vessels, catching fire, fled into 
the harbor. The cruiser Novik came out to cover the other flotillas 
and joined the main fleet. 

Russians Put to Sea. 

"The enemy having cleared a fairway with the aid of their dragging 
steamers the Novik steamed out to sea. Our third fighting squadron 
keeping in contact drew the enemy southward on a southeasterly 
course. 

'"Our first squadron, hidden south of Sugan island, waited for the 
eiiemy and concentrated all its destroyers. At 6:15 p. m. our first 
squadron sighted the enemy eight miles northwest of Sugan island. 
The Cesarevitch- wasTeading, with the Novik and the destroyers on its 
right. 



4i8 NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 

"They steamed south. At 7:30 p. m. our distance from them was 
14,000 yards. The enemy changed course slightly to the starboard and 
we followed them, trying to draw the enemy's van. 

"At 8 p. m. the enemy altered their course to the north and we 
turned eight points and steamed in till sunset, at 8:20 p. m., when we 
parted eight points, and I ordered the torpedo craft to attack the 
enemy. 

"At 9:30 p. m., when five miles distant from the harbor, the four- 
teenth torpedo flotilla made its first attack on the enemy's rear, the 
fifth flotilla following." 

Unable to Enter Harbor. 

"The enemy was thrown into disorder and could not make port, so 
they anchored at 10:30 p. m. in the roadstead, where we attacked them 
eight times before dawn. At 10:30 p. m. our sixteenth flotilla dashed 
from Shoosen point and launched two torpedoes into the bows of a 
battleship resembling the Peresviet, which immediately sank. We 
could ascertain no other results till morning, when we saw that one 
battleship was missing and two vessels of the Sevastopol and Diana 
class unable to use their engines. On the 24th the enemy's fleet entered 
the harbor, some being towed and others under their own steam, the 
last getting in at 4 o'clock p, m." 

A Russian Guardship Sunk. 

On the night of June 27 the Japanese torpedo boats approached 
Port Arthur and were discovered by the Russian picket ships. Despite 
the heavy fire from ships and forts and the blinding searchlights, the 
Japanese succeeded in torpedoing one of the Russian men-of-war. At 
the same time the Russian torpedo boat destroyer attacked the Japanese 
and the fire from the latter capsized one of the Russian boats. Accord- 
ing to Admiral Togo, two officers and fifteen men were killed -and 
wounded. 

The twelfth torpedo boat flotilla, under the command of Commander 
Yamada, delivered the attack. The Japanese vessels were revealed 



NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 419 

by the Russian searchlights and the shore forts opened a heavy fusillade 
on them. 

The Russian gwardship was surrounded and attacked by the Jap- 
anese, who saw this vessel sink amid huge volumes of water thrown 
up by heavy explosions. 

Following this the Russian torpedo boat destroyers at once attacked 
the Japanese vessels, which responded to the onslaught. A Russian 
destroyer, while within the area lit up by the searchlights, was seen to 
explode, rise, fall back into the water sideways, and sink. 

Operations of Togo's Fleet. 

Admiral Togo devoted a considerable portion of the month of June 
to a bombardment of the west coast of the Liaotung peninsula. In an 
official report he stated that the captain of a foreign vessel that left 
Yinkow on June 8 reported that the recent Japanese bombardment in 
the vicinity of Kaiping, south of Newchwang, caused Russian forces to 
the number of 3,000, with twenty guns, to evacuate Yinkow. On the 
following day another detachment of the fleet bombarded the enemy 
for two hours near Yingchintsu and Tsantiakao, inflicting much damage 
upon them. 

Another detachment of the Japanese fleet, according to Admiral 
Togo's report, discovered four Russian torpedo boat destroyers in 
Talienwan bay, near Shaopingtan, and drove them back to Port Arthur. 
Over seventy mines have been destroyed in Talienwan bay. Thirty 
floating mines have been found and destroyed. Some of these were 
drifting into Pechili gulf. 

The Grip Tightens. 

Meantime the Japanese grip was tightening on Port Arthur. In 
the flighting which occurred on July 4 for the possession of one of the 
hills northeast of Port Arthur, the Russians lost 100 men killed and 
fifty wounded. 

The Japanese having occupied the second range of hills around Port 
Arthur began to march upon the Russian marine camp that commanded 



420 NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 

the principal pass through the hills, which is directly back of Port 
Arthur. This camp was considered vital to the safety of the fortress, 
and it was guarded by 20,000 rnarines and sailors. In the Chinese- 
Japanese war the Japanese occupied this camp for seven days before 
they took possession of Port Arthur. 

Port Arthur Harbor Unsafe. 

The last junk to leave Port Arthur was towed out of the harbor and 
its passengers were compelled to remain below until it had cleared the 
harbor entrance. This measure v/as adopted to prevent the passengers 
from obtaining knowledge of conditions at the entrance to the harbor. 

Chinese reported the entrance to the harbor of Port Arthur was 
unsafe for the passage of vessels. One Russian warship was slightly 
damaged while coming out recently as a result of striking a sunken 
wreck, and the two other warships collided in the entrance and had to 
undergo repairs. 

Japs Nearer Port Arthur. 

Chinese refugees from Port Arthur stated at this time that the 
Japanese forces had formed a complete cordon around the land side 
of the town, and that they were occupying all the commanding hills, 
including Wolf mountain, within a radius of seven miles of the fortifica- 
tions. " 

The Chinese also said that two large warships were missing from 
the squadron which went out from Port Arthur on June 23, and that 
the Russian battleship Sevastopol was damaged on that day. The 
Japanese bombarded Port Arthur from the sea on June 30, but inflicted 
no damage to the town. 

A trustworthy Chinaman reported that on July 5 one division of 
the Japanese army reached the northeast slope of the Takushan moun- 
tain, the summit of which was less than three miles from Port Arthur. 

This division parted from another division of the army on the high- 
way north of Port Arthur, after which it made its way through moun- 
tainous country. The other division continued along the main road 
toward the marine camp, to reach which it would have to pass over a 



NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 421 

plain, but attacked by this division, in conjunction with that of Taku- 
shan mountain, the marine camp would not be tenable. 

Japs Take Another Fort. 

- Fort No. 16, which is on the main Une of defenses surrounding Port 
Arthur, was taken by the Japanese on July 6. 

Continuing, the Chinaman declared that Russians in Port Arthur 
said that a Russian regiment which was out reconnoitering was driven 
back by the three Japanese regiments, who were in turn surrounded 
by two regiments of Cossacks and wiped out. 

Japs Hide War Secrets. 

Operations of paramount importance went on within the war zone 
during July, but the government successfully succeeded in veiling them 
in almost absolute secrecy. Since the occupation of Dalny the govern- 
ment officials were absolutely silent concerning conditions at Port 
Arthur. It was generally believed, however, that the Japanese army 
and navy vv^ere daily tightening their relentless grip on the besieged 
city, and that a final assault, followed by the fall of the fortress, was 
now only a matter of weeks. 

The fleet of Admiral Togo was in motion day and night and was 
frequently engaged, but the forces and number of guns of the besiegers 
were secrets which probably would not be revealed until the final and 
decisive action. Fragmentary information from various sources, espe- 
cially Chinese, reached Japan, but its publication was forbidden under 
a severe penalty. 

Embargo on News Absolute. 

Much concerning the siege of Port Arthur could b» published with- 
out injury to the Japanese cause, but the general stafT, resolved to 
avoid aiding St. Petersburg or Gen. Kouropatkin with a single shred 
of information, placed an absolute embargo on the transmission of all 
news. 

No foreigner accompanied either the Japanese forces which were 
besieging Port Arthur, the army under Gen. Oku, or the army which 



422 NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 

was landed at Takushan, and the newspaper correspondents and for- 
eign attaches with Gen. Kuroki were made to remain within a circle 
having a radius of a little over half a mile. 

Many false reports concerning the war operations were sent abroad. 
These the Japanese welcome as being just so much more chaff and 
sand thrown in the eyes of the enemy. 

Tell of 800 Russian Dead. 

A dispatch from Chefoo stated that on Tuesday, July 5, Chinese 
carriers brought into the town over 800 Russian dead, two of whom 
were high officials. It also said that a part of the Japanese force had 
advanced to within six miles of the besieged town, taking another east- 
ern fort. 

In the fighting which occurred on July 4 over the possession of one 
of the hills northeast of Port Arthur, the Russians lost 100 men killed 
and fifty men wounded. Fifty Chinese carriers were sent out to bring 
in the Russian dead and wounded. 

Japs Seven Miles from Fortress. 

On July 10 a fair wind brought a fleet of junks from Port Arthur, 
carrying both Chinese and Europeans. Reports which they brought of 
conditions at Port Arthur were contradictory, but they all said that a 
Japanese division from the northward was intrenching seven miles 
from the marine camp, while another division from the eastward was 
fighting continuously, and with the aid of the fleet was endeavoring 
to gain a position commanding the town and naval basin. 

A European stated that the fighting to the eastward of Port Arthur 
had been heavy for several days, the Japanese ships along the shore 
shelling the Russian position in the hills. The smoke from the artillery 
on the hills around Port Arthur was seen almost continuously. Dead 
and wounded were being brought in at all hours, and many private 
houses were turned into hospitals. 

Only skirmishes occurred to the northward. The main Japanese 
force was ten miles away, but Japanese scouts were seen is the vicinity 



NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 423 

of the main camp, which commanded the principal pass to the hills, 
directly back of Port Arthur. On the nights of July 2, 3 and 4 the 
Japanese fleet bombarded the roads from the south of the town. 

Togo Attacks Port Arthur. 

On Friday night, July 8, during a storm, a flotilla of torpedo boats of 
Admiral Togo's fleet approached Port Arthur. On the following morn- 
ing one of the torpedo boats found and attacked the Russian cruiser 
Askold. The Askold fired on the torpedo boat, two petty officers being 
severely wounded. 

On Monday, July 11, Japanese torpedo boats approached the boom 
at the entrance of Port Arthur and attacked a Russian guardship of 
the Diana type with torpedoes. 

The Russian cruisers Bayan, Diana, Pallada, and Novik, with two 
gunboats and seven destroyers, preceded by mine clearing steamers, 
made a sortie from Port Arthur on the morning of July 9 and reached 
a point between Senikaku and Lungwantan. They were attacked by 
Japanese torpedo boats and returned to Port Arthur, which they re- 
entered at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 

Jap Cruisers Joined in Fight. 

Admiral Togo's amplified report of the Russian sortie stated that 
the Japanese torpedo boat destroyer which signaled the enemy's pres- 
ence was attacked. The Novik appeared to be crippled. The Bayan 
steamed ahead, engaging the Japanese destroyers, which retired, but 
four Japanese cruisers speedily arrived and assisted in the attack. They 
impeded the Russian steamers that were dragging for mines. One 
Russian warship, keeping inshore under the batteries, crept nearly to 
Lungwangtung, probably meaning to support a fort that was meeting 
a land attack. According to unofficial accounts, the boom at the en- 
trance of Port Arthur is formed of logs, with their ends outward. They 
are joined by three cables. The Russians were able to anchor in deep 
water behind the boom. 






424 NAVAL ENGAGEMENTS. 

On August I it was reported that the Japanese occupied every posi- 
tion surrounding the besieged fortress except Golden hill. It was also 
rumored Port Arthur had been taken, but the reports were generally 
traceable to Chinese refugees. There was very severe fighting in the 
immediate neighborhood of the fortress during the latter days of July. 
A dispatch from Chefoo, dated July 29, stated : 

"A junk containing thirty refugees from Port Arthur, who are all 
foreigners of the better class, arrived here to-night from Port Arthur. 

"The refugees report that exceedingly heavy fighting by land and 
by sea to the east and the northeast of Port Arthur occurred on Tues- 
day, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week, and they express the 
belief that a general assault was begun on Thursday. 

"They say that this bombardment was the heaviest experienced 
since the beginning of the siege, and that the Russian forts made little 
reply to the Japanese fire. 

Russians Short of Ammunition. 

"Ammunition is said to be growing scarce, and the large fort guns 
are not often discharged. Attempts to manufacture ammunition in 
Port Arthur are reported to have been failures. 

"All public buildings are being used for hospitals. The sick and 
wounded are being well cared for by volunteer nurses. The wounds 
made by the Japanese rifles are not dangerous except when vital spots 
are reached. Hundreds of badly wounded have quickly recovered from 
their wounds." 

"Field Marshal Marquis Oyama, accompanied by his staff, left Port 
Dalny on Tuesday. He is conducting the Japanese operations in per- 
son." 



^^*4^^1A 



